Legacy
by Charming Legacy
Summary: It's time for the next generation to fight back. Who better to do it other than the children of the Charmed Ones. Filled with secret pasts, forbidden romances, future dreams, alternate universes, family, and magic.
1. I: The Legacy Beings

**Author's Note:**

**First, I am so thankful for all the people who supported me. I finally, FINALLY, have the first "episode" out. It was July 3rd, 2007 when I first published Legacy Credits. And on July 4th, 2008 (my bday!), I will be able to show the work to everyone who wants to read it. I would have done it sooner, but you have to wait two days for FanFiction to verify your account! So I'll take some time out of my birthday to publish it for you guys and I really hope that everyone will like it. Hopefully I'll get some new fans and I hope the old fans are satisfied! I want to give a special shout out to Jenn. Thanks for supporting me. If it wasn't for you, I honestly don't think I would have continued Legacy. You rock. It's been really hard for me to figure out how to split the episodes or chapters. I went back and forth from changing it to Chapter 1 with Roman Numerals and then back to Episode. And I think my ultimate decision is to keep it in Chapters, because when does an Episode really end? I think for me, it's much less pressure with Chapters. I'm still very hesitant. It sounds so stupid but it's so crucial to how people will view it.**

**I like to get visuals for stories, so here are some of my visuals for some characters, other than the main 9, of course. Check out the character list with pictures on legacyepisodes./characterlist.html.**

**I really hope it's everything it hyped up to be! Stay cool everyone!**

* * *

Chapter I: The Legacy Begins

* * *

"_Do you, Patricia Mitchell-Halliwell, take Alexander Joseph Evans, to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to love, comfort, honor, and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"_

_Patricia's deep brown eyes stared into her love's sparkling baby blues. She took a breath. _

"_I do." His smile deepened, his eyes staring deep into hers. _

"_Do you, Alexander Joseph Evans, take Patricia Mitchell-Halliwell, to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love, comfort, honor, and keep her for better or worse, for rich…"_

"_Yes," he cut off. Quiet laughter came from the family around them. Patricia found herself giggling the way that could make any guy fall for her. He looked embarrassingly down._

"_I mean," he looked up, "I do." _

_The priest, slightly smiling, gently closed the book, "You may now kiss the bride." _

_Alexander passionately placed his arm around her waist and kissed her. She embraced him in a hug as family started clapping. The clapping seemed to slow down in her mind, forming into a peaceful, melodic rumble. Her mind set everything in slow motion, in which simultaneously everything seemed happened at once. The first noise that traveled to her ears was the clapping turning into a horror mess of shocked noises and chairs crashing. She broke away from the kiss to see a group of men, wearing sleeveless black shirts, with the grungy black leather to match. They were exerting vivid green energy balls at everyone in sight. She saw the surprised look of her new husband and reached for his arm, attempting to use her powers. A demon shimmered in before her eyes. She stopped in her tracks, surprised. Her mind seemed to go numb. _

"_I don't think so," the demonic voice broke out. With her attention focused on the demon, she failed to see the energy ball that was aimed directly at Alexander. It hit him hard, flying him backward into the glass of the church. Patricia turned viciously around, screaming out his name as he crashed through the glass. He fell onto the grass, staining the green a dark red. _

Patricia jolted out of bed in a cold sweat. She panted and turned her way to the clock. It read 2:32 A.M. Still out of breath, she put her hand to her head, placing her other hand near her heart, trying to calm herself down. Her short breaths turned into a panic mess. She started quivering. Tears broke through her lids. She sat in bed, letting the tears come out. The silent weeping stirred her sister. Though she was across the apartment, she could hear anything a mile away. She ran out of her room and rushed to her sister's side.

"Tricia?"

Alarmed by the sound of her name, she looked up. She stared into her sister's eyes and shook her head. Helen ran to her side and wrapped her arms around her, rocking her back and forth. Within short hours, the sun rose up, greeting the day. Helen and Patricia lay next to each other, still in a embrace. Helen slowly opened her eyes and noticed Patricia was still sleeping. She climbed out of the bed quietly and stopped at the door. She turned to stare at her sister. Her body was crunched in the fetus position, looking as fragile as a child. She headed toward the bathroom, thinking.

_It has been over eight months since Alex has died. The dreams can't be coming back. Not now. Not when she was almost ready to let go. _

She sighed and prepared herself for the day.

* * *

Meanwhile, the morning had started hours earlier for Penelope Halliwell. She hustled around her loft, carrying several bags and attempting to open her front door. Close to succeeding, the door swung open itself, surprising her and knocking her down, sending her bags flying. Her eldest cousin, Wyatt, emerged from behind the door. He saw her on the ground, with bags strewn out. His eyes widened.

"What are you _doing_?" he ran to her side and helped her up. She angrily glared at him.

"I was on my way _out_ but you had to, oh so rudely, open the door in my face," she clapped her hands together and started picking up her numerous bags.

He held his hands up.

"Sorry, sorry. I thought you'd need some help bringing the stuff over to the Manor," he said, reaching for bags.

"Yeah, I do. Thank you," she said. They headed out towards the street to their cars.

"How long have you been up?" he asked.

She chuckled to herself. "Uhm, more like when was the last time I slept. I stayed up pretty much all night."

He shook his head.

"What are the plans for today?"

"Well, Mom said she won't be home 'till five o'clock and she's asked Susan to close the restaurant up for the night," Wyatt said.

Penelope nodded. "Okay, leaves us plenty of time to set up and make sure everyone's ready."

He placed his bags in the car, took Penelope's from her arms, and slammed the door. She got in the passenger seat and waited until he got in.

"I think it's really great that we're doing this for her. She always knows when we're gonna surprise her, but this time I think we got it. She's turning fifty-five. I mean, that's huge," she commented on her aunt's birthday.

He nodded. "Yeah, especially since Mel moved out. She feels like she's losing her kids, one by one." They headed toward the Manor. The ride silenced.

"How are you doing?" Wyatt asked, filling the awkward silence. "I felt like I haven't seen, let alone talked to you, in days."

She shrugged. "I don't know. You know that Mom and Dad aren't too happy with me because I'm not going to college."

He nodded. "You have a job though. And you're doing what you've always wanted to. You're actually good at it."

She laughed. "Well thanks, I was hoping I was. It's such a great opportunity. Leela Motinski is one of the best wedding planners out there. And for me to get a chance to not just intern with her, but actually get paid for it. That's so hard to do. I mean, the hours are long. I get that, but I also get that I love to do this. What I don't get is why _they_ can't just be happy for me."

"You know that they need time. I think they're worried about you. I mean, this obviously interferes with your charmed life," he said with emphasis.

"Yeah, you know I thought about that too. It's going to be so hard to tackle work and demons, but Mom did it. Why can't I?"

He turned to her. "You could do it. Just don't give up. Doing what we do, the most important thing is to never forget about what _you_ want."

She nodded. "Leo trained you well."

He laughed. She smiled, looking out the window.

* * *

"Don't you think this is a bad idea, Zotar? I'm tired of attacking. The same thing always happens. We lose men. We lose the battle. Only the mentally damaged and suicidal go after them. They are just too damn strong. Especially with their children slowly taking over as the new powers…" a dark haired, black eyed demon spoke to his partner and group of followers.

"We just can't act foolishly. Demons; They think too highly of their power. They believe they can do it all on their own. It's not in their nature to work with other demons. Betrayal is the first thing we learn. Don't you see that we've changed things already by working together. With more power, comes more success. Looking at past history, demons just tend to attack out of nowhere. Surprising the witches barely ever works. They've been doing this as long as we have been demons. But we will not make that same mistake," Zotar, a six foot tall demon, wearing all black, responded, with a grin.

"So are we still working on the original plan?" his friend questioned.

He thought for a moment. "Yes. It has to work. The girl is still naïve about her powers." He looked at his partner.

"You do your job as planned out, Xyler, and in no time, we get more powers and we will control," he said with a grin. Fire enveloped his body and he disappeared.

* * *

"You know, family gatherings are _always_ dangerous. At least in our family," Junior said to Chris and Melinda. He had just arrived at the Manor to help with setting up.

Melinda shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You're dangerous," she impulsively, childishly answered back.

He stared at her with a confused expression. "What?"

She shook her head again. "Just shut up. We've set up blessed crystals. Any uninvited intruders will get electrocuted..." she paused. "…or killed."

Chris nodded, in agreement. "Make sure that's uninvited _demonic_ intruders. We don't want to be killing the UPS delivery guy here."

She nodded.

"Okay, but don't forget what happened at Aunt Phoebe's birthday. Piper almost didn't make it after the demon shot her with an energy ball, so let's just hope Phoebe or my mom or any of us don't get hurt at Piper's," Junior responded.

"You're so negative," a voice said to Junior. He turned around to see his older cousin, Pandora, whom everybody referred to as Dora, standing in the doorway.

"Hey," he started in defense, resting his elbows on the counter of the kitchen and leaning over. "Do not blame me for being realistically cautious here. Don't forget who we are, and what demons do to us on a daily basis."

"Well, I'm proud to say that demons have not attacked any of us for weeks now," Dora said.

"Hey. Don't go jinxing us," Chris replied, laughing a little.

She scrunched up her face at him. Junior shrugged.

"I don't know about you guys but those charges Wyatt and I are looking after...It's like all of a sudden, every demon decided they wanted them dead," he said.

"Maybe that's why the Elders assigned them to Wyatt. They knew he would be able to protect them," Melinda said. Junior shrugged again. Dora revealed bags of deflated balloons.

"There are 108 here so you guys want to start getting these blown up?" She sheepishly grinned.

Melinda echoed her brother's laugh. "Yeah, right. You are not getting away with us blowing those up for you. You signed up for balloons, so it's your responsibility."

Dora sighed and explained herself. "Not fair. I was the last one to pick. I've been busy with Magic School."

Her Uncle Leo and Aunt Paige co-owned the Magic School and they had given Dora a class to teach future Cupids. Her dad, a Cupid, taught her and she intended to pass on the knowledge to future Cupids.

"You shouldn't have been late. Just use a balloon pump or something," Junior responded, reaching for the mini sandwich Melinda had spent the last ten minutes setting up on a plate. She slapped his hand. He grabbed one and extended his hand in the air, out of her reach. She glared at him.

"Hey, you were not last. Helen gets stuck with cleaning up," Chris reminded.

"Right," Dora remembered. "But you know everybody's going to help with that. And besides, you know Helen. She'll just recite a spell."

They laughed, Junior the loudest. He knew his sister. She loved magic and used spells on anything possible. 'Personal gain' was not in her vocabulary.

Chris glanced at his watch. It read 1:49 P.M. "Speaking of Helen, where is she?"

"She called an hour back. She'll be here… with Tricia soon. She also said… that there might be a problem," he said, in between swallows.

"Oh no," Dora said.

"Tricia had the dream again," he said, finishing his food.

Melinda and Chris exchanged glances. "The one with Alex?"

Junior sullenly nodded. Dora fumbled with the packages of balloons.

"What does this mean?" Melinda questioned, stopping what she was doing.

Junior shrugged, leaning back, "She could just be overwhelmed with work. It has been eight months since it happened. And there have been more cases at work than usual."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room as they flashbacked to the day of the wedding.

_Patricia quickly ran outside to her husband's side. She grabbed him by the shoulders. _

"_Alex? Alex, baby? Alex! Damn it," she screamed through tears. Junior ran to her. _

"_Tricia," he said, extending his arm towards her. She looked back at him in tears. Her dress quickly soaked up the red blood. She started crying and rested her head against Alex. His eyes, full of sorrow, followed Alex back to Tricia. He gently walked over to his sister's side and kneeled down. He placed his hand on her back. She let out a weep. Sounds of demons and crashes died down. Paige appeared, running out of the church. _

"_Are you guys ok…?" She stopped short in her tracks when she spotted Tricia. _

_Bewildered people emerged from the church, and stood by, watching the new bride grieve._

* * *

Tricia glanced at the mirror. Her reflection stared back at her, with blank eyes. She didn't seem to recognize herself. Scared, she broke away from the mirror and looked down. She pulled a strand of her shoulder-length, chestnut brown hair behind her ear. She breathed in slowly and let out a long breath. She turned around to see Helen leaning against the doorway, with arms crossed. Her eyes were narrowed, staring at Tricia. Tricia closed her eyes.

Helen started to say something but her sister interrupted her.

"I'm okay. You know that I'm okay. I don't need a lecture," she brushed past her. Helen nodded to herself. Enough words were said. It's not like she hasn't witnessed her sister's denial before. It had been like this ever since that day. She turned around on her heels.

"We better head out," Tricia said, reaching for her purse. "We don't want to be late and we have to pick up Dad from work since his car is in the shop."

Helen nodded. They headed out the door, locking the door of the apartment they shared with their brother behind them. They drove their way to pick up their father, who was a parole officer. They came to a halt at his office. Tricia turned to her sister in the passenger seat.

"I need a favor, Lene," she used her nickname for her sister. Helen nodded.

"Don't tell dad. I mean, he has enough to worry about and I don't want this to be a big deal. I'm sick of always being the one everybody's worried about."

Helen nodded, "Sure. I won't tell him. But you have to promise me you won't run away from it. Not again."

"I promise," she said too quickly.

Helen stared doubtfully back at her. She got out from the car to get her dad.

* * *

The door swung open. Dora jumped, startled by the loud bang. She saw Wyatt and Penny enter, followed by her cousins and uncle.

She placed her hands on her hips angrily. "Where have you all been?"

Penny shrugged. "We left early, but we needed to make some stops and then traffic got crazy."

Tricia nodded. "Yeah, Monday traffic sucks around here."

"At least we're not too late," Dora's favorite uncle, Henry, added in.

"Did you make sure to park away from the house?" Dora asked.

Wyatt nodded. "Got the neighbor's approval. Hopefully Mom won't pay attention to the overload of cars next door."

Dora nodded and grabbed the bags of party supplies, walking into the dining room. She started to set up. They followed her and headed to the kitchen, where the rest of the family was. Everyone was bustling around, placing bags around the kitchen and walking in and out. Penny made herself busy and grabbed a banner from the table in the kitchen and walked into the dining room. She jumped up, trying to reach a spot to tape the banner that read "Happy Birthday". Helen walked in and observed. She saw Penny jump again and sighed.

"Don't say it," Penny commented, feeling her cousin behind her. Helen shook her head, mumbling "say a spell" as she walked away. Wyatt brushed past Helen's mumblings as he turned to Penny. Stepping on his tiptoes, he lifted the sign higher, towering over her. She thanked him. A bright pink light appeared before them, in the shape of a heart. Her Mom, Dad, and Uncle Leo appeared before their eyes. Wyatt's face lightened at the sight of his Dad.

"Dad!" he exclaimed excitedly. He walked over and hugged him. He hadn't seen him for weeks because of his recent involvement with his new charges. His father happily enveloped him in a similar bear hug. They got involved in setting up around the living room. Phoebe said her quick "hellos" and went to the kitchen, hurriedly.

Melinda shouted from the kitchen, "Where is Prue?" On cue, the door slammed shut. Prue appeared in the dining room, wearing a school backpack. She dropped her bag to the floor and hugged her dad.

"Hi dad," she said as she pulled away from the hug. She took a quick look around. "Wow, this all looks great."

Penny nodded and punched her in the shoulder.

"Thanks for the help," she said. Prue laughed.

"Hey, I try my hardest."

"Come on Ladybug, Pumpkin; let's go help out," Prue's dad said to his two eldest daughters.

Penny and Dora walked back into the kitchen, followed by their dad.

It was a rare occasion her whole family, all fifteen of them, were able to be in one place, at one time, not involving a demonic attack. They even managed to invite her Mom's and Aunts' dear friend Darryl Morris and his wife, Shiela, along with their two sons. She walked into the busy kitchen. It consisted of her own siblings, Dora and Penny, to her numerous cousins. The only person missing was her Aunt Piper, whose surprise party it was that night. The clock read fifteen minutes to five. She walked over to a bowl of chips and ate one. Dora caught her and glared at her. Prue shrugged, nonchalantly.

"Hey, why don't you help out and take all that stuff to the dining room," Dora said.

"Fine, fine," she answered, picking up bowls with force.

Dora playfully bumped her and smiled. Prue grinned. The mood of the moment was high energized and positive. Everyone was excited and anxious to see if Piper would be surprised this time.

Footsteps were heard running through the house.

"She's here! She's here!" Helen yelled crazily, waving her arms in the air. Everyone broke into chaos and started running around. Somebody shut the lights off, making everybody break into even more havoc. Everyone ran to the living room. People spread out in their own little hiding places. Prue squeezed in a tight corner of the room, by the brand new buffet table.

"Shhhhhhh," somebody whispered. The door opened. Everyone silenced.

Piper's familiar footsteps walked the creaking floor. She turned on the lights.

A loud chorus of "surprise" rang out. Piper's eyes widened and she almost stumbled backwards. Her lips turned into an unexpected upright smile. Leo walked over, followed by the rest of the family reaching in for hugs. Darryl gave his oldest friend a giant bear hug.

"What...guys...you..." her words came out broken. Melinda smiled brightly, her eyes shining.

"Happy birthday!" she exclaimed, excitedly.

Piper shook her head in disbelief, "How did you even manage this without me finding out?"

"I don't know. There are so many of us, one of us were bound to spill," Helen said, astonished by how they managed. Piper smiled.

"I cannot believe I'm fifty-FIVE. I feel so old," she said.

Leo embraced her in a passionate hug.

Somebody turned on music and everyone spread out in the living and dining room, sitting and chatting with each other. Knowing that they wouldn't all be together in a family gathering like this for a while, they spent the night laughing and talking.

Melinda walked over to Junior and smirked at him. He shook his head and sipped his drink.

After a long while, Prue walked out of the room and into the silent kitchen. The voices became muffled as the door shuffled shut. She rested her head on the sink counter.

She turned the faucet on and poured water into a nearby glass. She drank it hurriedly and let out a breath. She looked down and examined the new ring on her right hand. It was placed on her thumb. She fidgeted, fingering along its intricate carving, with her left, free hand. Somebody suddenly burst through the door. She let go of her glass in surprise and watched as it descended downwards. She tried reacting by grabbing for it, but the glass seemed to slow down itself, as it landed perfectly upright on the floor. She looked down and followed the feet of a person to her cousin's face.

"Chris!" she exclaimed. He reached down for the glass.

"You okay?" he questioned, curiously.

Prue shook her head, coming to the realization her cousin had used his freezing power to manipulate the glass from falling and shattering into pieces.

"Yeah. Yeah," she repeated, trying to convince herself. She patted her hand, making sure to secure her ring in its familiar spot.

Chris stared at her as Prue hid her face and turned halfway to the sink.

She quickly changed the subject and faced him. "So, it's been a great party, huh?"

Chris nodded, brushing the issue off.

"Yes, yes, definitely. I, uh, came in here for some more drinks," he reminded himself. Prue nodded, pointing off to the kitchen closet, where the drinks usually were.

He nodded, reached in, and emerged with a six-pack of soda.

"Everything okay?" he asked again.

Prue brushed past him, surprised at how easily agitated she became. "Yes, _fine_."

Annoyed by his prying, she made an effort to slam the door behind her. He closed his eyes and sighed, walking after her. She inconspicuously headed up the stairs, avoided by the rest of her family. He dropped off the six-pack in the dining room and ran after her. As they reached the top of the stairs, he grabbed her arm and turned her around. She looked at him with bewildered eyes.

"No, everything is _not_ fine. What is going on with you?" he questioned, raising his voice. Her eyes flickered to the end of the stairs. He turned his head and noticed Wyatt, giving him looks. He breathed in deeply through his nose and turned back toward her.

"Tell me what's going on with you," he said again, in a hushed voice.

She pushed her lips together. She felt the words coming up. She wanted to talk to him. He was one of the only people she could regularly talk to, but she stopped short.

"Let go of me," she managed out instead.

He realized his grip was tight and loosened it. She ran off, free from the grasp. He made his way down the stairs, with a puzzled look on his face.

"What's going on?" Wyatt curiously asked.

He rested his body against the railing, crossing his arms. "If only I knew."


	2. II: Secrets

II: Secrets

Prue ran to her cousin's old room and plopped herself on the small couch. She knew something was going on with her. And it started when she put on the ring.

_She swung the door open. _

_"So sorry I'm late," she called out, figuring her parents were waiting, arms crossed. She ran through the kitchen to get to living room, stopping short to find a bright yellow post-it note. _

"_Went out with mom. Dinner's in the fridge. Be back late. Don't stay up, kitten."_

_"Hmph," she mumbled to herself. She slipped her backpack off and grabbed some food from the fridge. She made her way to the living room to watch T.V., when she stopped, just recognizing a small, unfamiliar green box on the counter. She put her food down and picked up the box. The intense color attracted her eyes. She slid open the box to discover a single silver ring, with small engravings on the outside and inside. She inspected it closer, not able to read the inscription. A note lay on the bottom of the box._

"_For a darling girl, who has stolen my heart," it read. She turned it over suspiciously. It was signed by Max, her boyfriend. She smiled._

_Intrigued by the peculiar looking ring, she picked it up, but hesitated. Something seemed off about the note. It didn't seem like him to not give it to her personally. But maybe he wanted to make it romantic by leaving it in her house. Maybe he gave it to her parents to leave it on the counter. She slipped it on her thumb, making a note to herself to ask her parents later. She smiled, running to the phone to call him._

But that had been weeks ago. A knock snapped her out of her thoughts. Her mother emerged from the other side of the door. She walked in and took a seat next to her on the couch.

"Everything okay mom?" she asked.

"I'm here to ask the same question. Are you tired? You left the party quietly, I didn't even notice you were gone until Chris came to me," her mom started.

Prue sighed and looked away. "Chris," she mumbled, shaking her head.

Phoebe looked at her with concerned eyes.

"Come to think of it, I am a little tired," Prue said after a long silence.

"Oh, as much as I want to believe that's the only thing on your mind, I can't," Phoebe commented.

"School's been at my throat lately, Max hasn't called me for days, and I haven't hung out with my friends for a while," Prue admitted only half of the truth.

"And then not to mention all this witch stuff I've been thinking about. You never had to worry about this stuff when you were sixteen. You got lucky."

Phoebe shook her head. "Honey, if only I did know about my powers when I was younger. It would prepare me so much better. I would have had Grams with me to help. I lost so much when I just discovered about my powers. It was new, it was out of nowhere. I never had the comfort of being able to fall back onto someone, other than my two sisters, when there was a demon we couldn't handle. Your Aunt Piper and Prue couldn't always be there for me, especially when they were going through the same thing."

"You're lucky," she said. "You have eight, _eight_, wonderful cousins and siblings to help you, not to mention your aunts, uncles, and your parents."

Prue allowed the words to seep through.

Phoebe continued. "Everyone's entitled to their secrets, believe me, I know. But with a family, demons use that. Especially our family. They take advantage of that little ounce of vulnerability and turn it into something much bigger. If there was anything I taught you as a _daughter_ it was to…"

Prue cut her, "…to be strong, no matter what happened. I know." Prue nodded.

Phoebe's eyes started to tear a bit as she stared at her fragile daughter.

"I can't stand seeing you like this. I just want to be able to hold you in my arms and kiss your troubles away, like I could when you were a baby."

Prue smiled weakly. "But you can't now."

Phoebe sighed, grazing her hand over her daughter's face. She extended her lower lip.

"Yes I can," she embraced her daughter who fell into her mother's arms. A tear slipped down Prue's face. She wanted to tell her mom. It would be the perfect moment, but she knew it was a bad idea. _Either way, she's going to be disappointed. And ashamed._

* * *

"I'd say the party was a success," Helen commented. She was sitting with Tricia and Junior in the car. The long day was coming to a finish. They were heading back to the apartment.

Junior nodded. "It was nice. And calm. Surprisingly."

Tricia followed her brother's nod. "Prue was off tonight though."

"Yeah. Mom said Aunt Phoebe's been worried about her. She talked to her I think. They came downstairs somewhat happier looking," Helen responded.

"Well, you know Prue. It's never been just simple with her," Junior said.

"You can't blame the girl. I mean, she looks at all of us and thinks that's what she's going to become when she's older. Still fighting demons while trying to maintain a normal life. Still managing to lose more friendships and jobs than innocents. If only I was her age again, I'd just run away from it all," Tricia added. Helen shook her head.

"You don't mean that. At least she has all of us to help her!" Helen argued. "She's too naïve. She just doesn't understand it yet. We always sacrifice so much for her, but what has she done to make it easier for us?" Helen argued.

"Give the girl a break. What's so wrong with wanting to be normal?" Tricia asked calmly.

"Everything," Helen shot back. "Our powers are gifts. We're lucky."

Tricia let out a breath, her voice rising. "I wouldn't call it _lucky_." Silence followed. Junior watched the argument back and forth as though he was watching a ping pong battle.

"You guys wanna watch the road…?" he asked, trying to prevent a fight.

"You, just as well as me, know that without our powers, we wouldn't be who we are today," Helen argued.

"Yeah, and without this destiny, we wouldn't lose the ones we love," Tricia said so softly it was barely heard, yet the words burned through Helen's debate. Helen's expression softened. She crossed her arms and turned toward the window, letting the ping pong ball burn through her racket.

* * *

Junior opened the front door and clicked the lights on, brightening up their apartment. It consisted of three bedrooms, one for each of them, along with a spacey living room that led to a small, suitable kitchen. It was the perfect apartment for the three of them, conveniently placed one floor below one of their closest friends, Milli. She met Tricia while they were in high school, eventually earning the trust of the siblings, figuring out the family secret. She was out of town, visiting her brother in New York. She went with her sister, Isobel, who had met Wyatt and Chris while they were in high school. Despite the fact he had a huge family, he had incredible memory when it came to remembering all of his and family's friends. It wasn't too hard, considering they had few close ones. He headed to the kitchen to get a bottle of water and went to his room, which was placed across from Helen's. Stepping into the cold room, he shut the door close. He hadn't been there for a few days because he was helping his cousin Wyatt, who had a massive overload of charges. He'd been recently given an assignment of three new charges, adding on to the dozens he already had. It was hard enough to deal with the older ones, and now he had to assist newer ones. Junior decided to tap into his whiteligher side and help out his cousin, which involved almost no sleep since the charges lived across the world. When he should have been sleeping, demons were attacking his charges. He thought to himself.

_So I guess I have whiteligher-lag? _

He chuckled to himself

"Whitelighter-lag," he laughed again. "I'm just great."

* * *

Prue headed to her bedroom. The party had ended hours earlier and she was back at her house. Her parents were already sleeping in their bedroom and she spotted Dora moving around in her bedroom. Penny's door remained closed, as it had for the past couple of weeks since she moved out. She closed the door of her own bedroom and sat on her bed, reaching under her bed. She emerged with a velvet box. She opened the box. It contained scraps of paper, small bottles of different colored liquids, and a variety of herbs. She fumbled through the papers until she found a folded sheet. She stopped at the sight of its golden edges, tinted from its age. Retrieving it from the box, she unfolded it. It revealed a paragraph of words, followed by a list of instructions. The sides were ridged, as if ripped out of a book. She sighed, recalling the day she took – stole – the page from a book.

_"Are you sure you're okay alone?" Dora asked her. Prue nodded._

_"Yeah, of course. I'm just gonna grab a couple of books and study over there," Prue said, pointing to the couch in the lounge of the Magic School. Dora nodded. _

_"Alright, I'm heading over to my class. See you at dinner tonight," she patted her sister's shoulder and walked off. Prue's smile faded and she waited a few moments until she was sure her sister was out of sight. She looked around. The room was deserted. She put the stack of books down and walked over to a secluded area of the bookshelf. She exposed a piece of paper she had in her pocket and took three books off the shelf, revealing a discolored section of the bookshelf. She started chanting._

"Secrets hidden with disguise

Unlock my path with no more lies

By a flicker of my hands

Don't hold me back from future plans."

_She waved her hand over the area. It brightly shone, blinding Prue. She winced, covering her eyes. She peeked to see the wall of the bookshelf slowly disappear and uncover a secret compartment. She checked her left and right to make sure nobody was there and slowly extended her hand into the compartment. She saw a pile of books and reached for the one she needed. She quickly flipped through the pages until she found the right one. She fingered the page. She heard voices approach. She quickly ripped the page out and threw the book back into the compartment. She waved her hand over the area, trapping it. She folded the paper and shoved it into her pocket, covering the bookshelf with the books, as if untouched. Students walked into the area, talking. Prue rubbed her hands together and smiled at them, walking past them and into a private room of Magic School._

* * *


	3. III: Unfolded Destinies

**Author's Note:**

**First of all, thank you all so much for the support!! This is a look on the lives of the some of the Charmed One's children. Enjoy ! **

* * *

The exuberant sun pierced through the blinds into the bedroom of young Penny Halliwell. She cringed, placing her hand over her eyes. Her clock rang on cue. She groaned and punched the 'off' button. The clock flashed the date and time; September 16, 7:30 A.M. She crawled out of bed and got ready for the day. She chose her best suit and arranged her hair nicely. Today was the day she was getting evaluated. She sighed and looked up.

"The only thing I want today is no demon attacks. Just for everything to go smoothly. Please," she thought out loud, exasperated. She grabbed a good luck charm from her drawer. Her other charms jingled as her fingers grazed against them. She tossed it into her purse and headed to her car, driving to the building. She made her way to the office and stepped inside. Three women stood hunched over a computer, deep in conversation. Penny slipped into her small office and put her purse in a safe area. She grabbed her clipboard and walked over to them. A woman, in her thirties, with dirty blond hair turned towards Penny. She smiled, lifting her hands up.

"Penny! Thank goodness you are here," she exclaimed, placing a hand around her shoulder. Penny smiled.

"Hello Leela, how are you today?"

Her boss motioned for her to come to the computer, "Better now that you're here. Come help us, we cannot decide the wedding dress for this young girl, Sara." Penny smiled and nodded at the petite brunette. She looked at the computer, which showed two wedding dresses, both sleeveless. One had a veil that reached the floor and lace enveloped the full bottom of the dress. The other had a short, middle of the back veil, but a similar full bottom. The major difference was the torso. The first had a complex design while the second was simple. Penny thought for a moment.

"Sara, what time of the year are you holding your wedding?" she questioned.

The girl shook her head, "Actually, I'm not sure yet. I recently got engaged, but I'm a sucker for planning early on. I want to get the perfect wedding dress."

"Ever since she was a little girl," the other woman butted in. She looked like Sara, but slightly aged. Penny figured she was her mother. Penny turned back to the computer and back at Sara again.

"Looking at your figure and bone structure, I'd say this one," she pointed to the second, simple dress, "would be a better choice. The first is so complex, with its designs in the center and its extravagant veil. It would cast people's attention everywhere; they wouldn't know where to look. But with this second one, it's simple enough to recognize your beautiful features, complement your body, and it's still eye-catching enough, but not so eye-catching that they like the dress more than the bride."

Leela raised her eyebrow and nodded, smiling. "Didn't I tell you she's my best?"

Penny smiled to herself. The elderly woman looked at her daughter in agreement.

"I picked that one myself," she smiled. "I'm Elizabeth, darling and you have marvelous taste."

Penny smiled in return. "Thank you Ma'am, it's so nice to meet you."

"Come with me Elizabeth," Leela led her away and they walked over to another computer. Penny locked eyes with Sara.

"So are you excited?"

Sara nodded. "Very much. I don't even know my wedding date, let alone much about the wedding. We haven't discussed the details much, but my mom insisted on getting a planner this early on and I can't say I disagree."

"You made such a great choice. Leela's one of the greatest planners out there, why do you think I intern with her?" Penny smiled. Sara nodded.

Penny noticed her warm clothing.

"Are you cold?" she questioned.

Sara looked down at her warm vest and long sleeved shirt. "Oh." She laughed.

"I just moved here from Chicago. Didn't get a chance to take out my summer clothing. I got transferred from my job; I'm in the advertising business."

Penny's eyes lit up, "Oh wow! That sounds incredible. Advertising was my second choice." She paused for a moment. "I couldn't imagine having another other career than this, but if I couldn't make it as a wedding planner, advertising was a close second."

"It's amazing, I love it," Sara nodded enthusiastically.

"What is you fiancé involved in?" Penny asked, to keep conversation going as Leela was busy talking to Elizabeth.

"He's a police officer. Since I got transferred, he's getting involved in the San Francisco Police Department. His father used to work there so he has no doubts they'll accept him," Sara explained. Penny nodded.

"Oh, that's interesting. My cousin is an officer over there," she said.

Sara opened her mouth to say something, but Leela appeared before them.

Elizabeth was talking. "Thank you Leela, my daughter and I will call soon." She turned to Penny. "And honey…" She motioned to her for a name.

"Penelope."

"Thank you. Penelope, you are a treasure. I hope to see you here next time I come by," she smiled, sharing a look with Leela, and said her good-byes.

"Welcome to San Francisco," Penny said, waving good-bye. She turned to Leela.

"Very nicely handled," Leela said, smiling. "Follow me; I need a couple things done." Penny nodded and followed her into her office, smiling to herself.

* * *

Pandora shuffled from her fifth period Cupid class to find a student from her first period potion-making class to give him the add-on notes he missed. She walked by a crowd of students.

"Excuse me, have you seen Brett…?" she stopped short as she got to the center of the circle. The student she was looking for was glaring angrily at another one of Dora's students. He pushed him up against the one of the many bookshelves, knocking down books.

"Hey!" Dora yelled. She ran up to Brett and pushed him off the other student.

"Cross me again Warren, and next time, I won't let you live," he fumed out, storming through the crowd of people. Dora stared bewildered at Warren.

"Everybody!" she yelled. "Back to your classes, now." They quickly shuffled out of there, knowing her stand in power. She glared back at Warren.

"March," she said strictly. He ran off, picking up his backpack.

"Man, I sound more like my Aunt Paige every day," she sighed, referring to her Aunt who learned to be strict with her students after she became a teacher. She ran after Brett, who stormed into one of the many small, deserted libraries of Magic School. She followed him in there, watching his moves. He rested his head against the books, slamming his hand against the shelf. He felt her presence and groaned, trying to leave.

She stepped in front of him, her black overcoat swiftly swaying with her.

"This is not the first time you let your temper get the best of you," she reminded. He closed his eyes.

"I have had enough of you telling me what I'm feeling. I don't freakin' care if you can sense my emotions. You have no idea what I'm going through. So stop pretending to know me, because you _don't_," he said darkly.

She shook her head.

"You know what Brett? I am so _sick_ and _tired_ of you feeling sorry for yourself. It's time for you to grow up and move on. You aren't the only one who has problems," she spit out, throwing the stack of notes at his feet. "Here are your notes. Ditch class again, you're not welcome in my class." She barged out.

He clenched his jaw and hit the shelf again, knocking down several books. He picked up the notes and ran after her.

"D," he shouted after her. He jumped in front of her.

"There are classes going on, and that's Professor Pandora to you," she said coldly.

He laughed and put his hand up to his head. "Okay, _Professor_ Pandora." He looked at her solemn face and guiltily looked down. "I'm sorry. He said something, I couldn't control myself, I'm sorry."

She sighed, knowing she had to give him another chance. She grabbed his arm and led him to the lounge of the school.

"I know it's been hard for you... It's not easy to lose a parent. And your situation doesn't make it any easier, but I thought I could get through to you. The minute I turn my head around, you go and do exactly what you promised you wouldn't."

"I know," he said. "It's hard to just forget something like this."

"I'm not asking you to forget it. I'm asking you not to let it get to you as much as it is. Focus on your studies, focus on your _future_," she lectured.

He sat down, clutching his head with his hands.

"I don't understand why he would do this to me?" he said with a vulnerable voice. She softened her eyes and sat next to him.

"It's not his fault. He didn't choose to be evil," she reminded.

"Yeah, but he could have saved himself. But he didn't and he left me here, all alone," he said, quietly.

"It took him and it's not fair. Demons are unfair. They don't think about our feelings, it's never been like that. They just barge into our lives and mess everything up, but our job is to stop them. We were born into it," she explained.

He shook his head. "It sucks." He rubbed his head, running his hand through his hair; a short buzz cut.

She picked up the notes from the table and handed it to him.

"Focus on school. Magic is not always a bad thing," she said. He looked at her and took the stack.

"You're too cool to be a teacher," he said. She laughed.

"Hey, I am only twenty. I'm entitled to be cool sometimes," she stopped smiling. "Oh man. I sound so old. I really need a break." She brought her hand up to her head. He laughed.

* * *

"Excuse me?" Tricia spit out as her boss brushed past her.

"You heard me," he said. She barged after him, walking into his office.

"Lieutenant Loft, you cannot be serious. I do _not_ need a partner," she complained. Earlier that morning her boss had surprised her with news of a new partner.

"Enough," he said firmly. "No more going out on cases on spur of the moment without anyone backing you up. I am not taking that chance anymore. Do you realize the risk you take? Not just your life, you risk the lives of innocents." He sat down, filing some papers.

"But Lieutenant, I do it because I can handle it by _myself_. I can't have someone on my back all the time," she said, banging her hands on his desk.

He raised his eyebrow at her, motioning to her hands.

"Sorry," she said, taking her hands off his desk. He got up and opened a file cabinet. She followed him. He shuffled through folders.

"He's very professional. His own father was a Captain here. Back at Chicago, he was top of the notch. And like it or not, he's your partner. So get used to it, and be nice," he said, turning to her. He pulled out a folder. He opened it and took out a packet of papers paper clipped together. He handed her the stack.

She grabbed them with one hand reluctantly.

"Read up on your new partner, Officer Halliwell," he left the office. She followed him out and groaned, throwing her hand in the air, angrily. She looked down at the stack and flipped to the first page. Her eyes widened at the name.

"No way," she said. She angrily marched to her desk and threw the stack on her desk, allowing papers to fly off the desk. The paper clip flew off and the second page became visible. She grabbed her bag and barged out of the station. The name lay on her desk. _August Caleb Monroe._

* * *


	4. IV: Ghosts, Graves, and August

Helen flipped through a book. She arrived in Magic School earlier that day to do some extra research on a specific ghost. Tricia called her previously to report about several deaths in San Diego that baffled some officers. It was located in one of the most haunted houses in California so she gave a tip to Helen. Of course, the death was at the Whaley House, said to be one of the most haunted in their state. As a joke, two kids sneaked into the house, only to be found dead several hours later. The kids were found in the archway between the music and parlor room. They appeared to be strangled to death, even though they had no marks on their necks.

"Aha," Helen said, finally finding the page she was looking for. White conjuring orbs started circling in front of her eyes. Melinda appeared before her.

"How's it going?"

"I found the guy," she pointed to the picture. Melinda peered over her shoulder and started reading.

" 'Yankee Jim' Robinson was a poor man who attempted to steal a boat from the same location in which the Whaley House now stands, but was caught. He was taken to trial, which sentenced him a hanging for his crime. On day of execution, they didn't factor his height when constructing the gallows. His toes scraped the ground and it took approximately," she winced. "forty-five minutes for him to get strangled to death."

"Ouch," Helen said.

"So his execution was 1852. He's been around for 176 years, what's making him kill today of all days?" Melinda questioned. Helen thought for a moment and looked back at the page. She nodded, pointing.

"He was killed on September 18th," she said. Melinda nodded.

"It's the old guy's birthday," she commented sourly.

"So we'll just dig up his bones," Helen said.

Melinda shook her head. "He's been dead since 1852, I doubt we'll be able to find his grave, if they even let alone buried him properly."

"Well we could try looking for it and if we can't find it, we'll look for another way to banish him," Helen suggested. Melinda shrugged.

"Okay, but if there is no grave, I am not turning into a ghost to vanquish him. Not again," Melinda said, pointing her finger at Helen. She laughed.

Melinda crossed her arms. "I am not kidding!"

"Alright, alright," Helen said.

* * *

Tricia sat in her office, concentrated on a case. She saw her boss walk through the station. She grabbed her new partner's packet and quickly got up, running after him.

"Lieutenant?" she yelled after him. He kept walking, ignoring her.

"Lieutenant!" she said louder. He turned around and stopped.

She threw the stack of papers on his desk. "I can't work with Officer Monroe."

He looked at her questioningly.

"I know him on a personal basis, I don't think it'll be very professional if we worked together," she explained. He breathed in and walked to his desk.

"Were you in a relationship?" he asked.

She shook her head, "No, but..."

"Then there is no problem."

She sighed.

"Last time I checked, Officer Halliwell, this wasn't _jury_ duty. I don't give a damn if you know him," he walked over to her and led her out of his office. "He is your partner, you will learn to _trust_ him. You will learn to work with him." He slammed the door in her face. She groaned and turned around, stomping back to her office. She sat down and rested her head in her hands. She thought back to her last encounter with August.

**_August_ _ran his hand through his long, shaggy brown hair. He placed the last item in the last box from his room. It was a photo of him with his two best friends; two cousins, Mel Halliwell and Tricia Mitchell-Halliwell. He secured the box close and stepped out of his house. A blue wave ran through his body. He stopped short and looked across the street at Tricia's house. He thought for a moment and dropped the box on the grass. The top flew open and the frame flew out of the box, hitting the pavement. The glass cracked between his and Tricia's face. He marched over across the street and knocked on the door repeatedly, with no break. _**

**_Tricia headed down the stair. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" The fourteen-year-old brunette bounced to the door, making sure not to drop the going away present she got. She opened to face an angry August. He rushed past her, fuming. He paced back and forth. He placed his hands on his hip, fidgeting them from his hip to his head and back. _**

**_"August? What's wrong?"_**

**_He laughed. "What's wrong? What's _wrong?_" She looked at him with dazed eyes. She waited for an answer. He stopped pacing._**

**_"You. That's what's wrong. I open up to you. I tell you the truth about me, and what do you do? You cast a spell on me," he said. She opened her mouth and closed it again. _**

**_"Hmmph. Of course, you have nothing to say. Just like you. You make a mistake and don't live up to it."_**

**_She stepped forward. "Hey! I make mistakes and when I do, I admit them. But that spell was not a mistake. I cast it because even if Mel was ready to tell you, I wasn't. It's not my fault you opened up right away. That was your decision. You're just an open book…"_**

**_He cut her off. "I'm an open book? Me?"_**

**_She fumed. "Ha! You're doubting it? When you moved here, you so desperately wanted a friend that you'd be willing to tell anybody your secret just so they'd like you. I became your friend because I felt _sorry_ for you," she spit out._**

**_He nodded."Oh, of course. And I just ran to your feet because you were the only person who would be my friend."_**

**_She brushed past him angrily. She started to talk, but he stopped her. _**

**_"You know what? I trusted you and I thought that through our years of friendship, you would learn to trust me too. But I guess you're just not capable of letting people in. To tell you the truth, I think you were just scared. Because I know you so well, you were afraid if I found out you were a witch too, there'd be nothing left to know and you got scared of that," he headed to the door and stopped. _**

**"_You could take your magic and everything about you and just shove it." He slammed the door and walked back to his house, in a hurry. Tricia stood frozen in her place. She looked at her present, which she wrapped in their favorite newspaper comics. She threw it at the ground with force and ran upstairs. It shattered, ripping through the newspaper. Paige appeared from her hiding spot behind the door. She picked up the broken gift and re-wrapped it in the newspaper, placing it in a bag._**

* * *

"Chris!" Melinda yelled. Seconds later, he orbed in front of her eyes. It was later that day, around 7 P.M. They had waited for it to get dark to vanquish the ghost, so others wouldn't see them digging up his grave.

"What's going on?" he questioned, noticing Helen stuffing potions a small brown sack.

"Ghost killing in San Diego. We need an orb to…" she paused, trying to remember the cemetery's name.

"El Campo Santo Cemetery. According to some sites, he's been buried there so we're going to try to find his grave and burn his bones," Melinda finished.

"You're going alone?" he walked over to the book and read about the ghost. He shook his head. "No, I'm coming with you. This guy has been around for over 100 years, who knows what kind of powers he has."

Helen nodded. "Good idea, we'd have more active powers then, but it takes someone a couple of good solid years to be able to cross over so he can't be too powerful."

"Well let's say 100 years to cross over…that still leaves about 70 years of learning and controlling his powers," Chris reminded.

"Okay, let's just go," Melinda said. He nodded and put his hands on their shoulders. Blue orbing lights transported them to the cemetery in San Diego. Helen groaned at the sight of the numerous tombs and emerged with a printed picture.

"This is his grave," she pointed to the picture. "Now all we have to do is find it." They observed the dozens of graves before them.

"Better start looking," Chris said. They spread out. "Stay close."

Helen nodded and started slowly walking through the rows of graves. She walked to the end of the fence and backed up a little, bumping into a tall grave. She toppled over and screamed. Melinda and Chris ran towards her. Melinda helped her get up.

"Ow," she said, rubbing her head. "What was that…?" She looked over at the grave and back at the picture. Peering closer, she read 'Yankee Jim' on it.

"Bingo," Melinda said. She emerged with a shovel and hit the ground.

"I feel so bad doing this," Melinda said, as she dug up the grave. Helen started digging with her.

"Why would he do this stuff? I mean, you'd think after 176 years of being a ghost, he'd have time to think about stuff. He chose to kill," she said, as they dug.

"You two are ridiculous," Chris interrupted. They stopped digging and turned to him. He was standing, watching them.

"Why aren't you digging?" Melinda asked angrily. He motioned his hands up. Blue orbs appeared at the headstone and the coffin appeared.

"Oh, nice," Helen said sarcastically, tossing the shovel.

"Okay," Melinda said. She picked up the bag they brought. It was filled with a small bottle of oil, a pack of salt, vials, and a matchbox. She nodded to Helen.

"Open it."

Helen turned to her.

"Me? You must be insane, I'm not touching that," she said.

"Well, I'm not touching it," Melinda screeched. Chris sighed.

"You two are a bunch of big babies," he said, brushing off the dirt from the coffin. He popped the latches and opened it. He turned to the girls.

"That was _so_ hard," he said, sarcastically. Melinda and Helen peered over his shoulder and back at each other.

"What?" he asked.

"Uhh, Chris," Melinda pointed to the coffin. He turned.

"What the…?"

The coffin had an outline of somebody's previous body in it, but the bones were missing.

"Great," Melinda said, throwing her hands up in the air. "What are we gonna do now?"

Helen picked up the bags. "We'll figure something out. Could you…?" She motioned to the coffin. He nodded, orbing the coffin down into the ground, covering the area as though nobody had been there.

"This is stupid. It seems like he only comes out every September 18th, why don't we just wait 'till next year? It's already getting late," Helen complained.

Chris shook his head. "Because what if he found a way around that? We started hunting this ghost, we're gonna finish him." Melinda nodded.

"Yeah," Melinda agreed.

"Well, if we're gonna kill someone to vanquish him, it's gonna be Chris," she said.

"Hey!"

"Yeah. Melinda already called herself out and I have to be there to heal the person," she said as Chris orbed them out of there.

"Well, technically we use the potion…" Melinda said. Helen punched her shoulder.

"Well, we'll just see," he said, his voice echoing throughout the cemetery. A black smoky aura passed through the area in which they stood, and traveled miles to an old, rusty building. A breathy noise came from the aura as it was sucked back into the owner. His blonde hair shined from his tall figure. He took a step down the stairs of the house and breathed deeply.

* * *


	5. V: The Whaley House

They orbed into Magic School. Melinda threw the bag of materials on the couch.

"Okay, any thoughts?" Melinda asked.

Helen thought for a moment and took out her small brown baggie full of vials.

"How about we make a potion for Chris to drink that'll separate him from his body, and we make the potion to revive him just in case, and then he says the spell to vanquish the ghost," she suggested. Chris shook his head.

"Come on," Melinda begged. "I did it last time, it's your turn." He groaned.

"Fine. Let's make the potions and get this ghost over with," he said. They orbed over to Chris's home, the Halliwell Manor. They found the right herbs and started mixing the right ingredients together. In several minutes, Helen slammed the table with her hand.

"Done," she said. Melinda nodded to Chris. He flicked his hand, orbing himself and the girls to the house. They slowly approached the steps. The area was deserted, except for the yellow 'Caution' tape tied around the house. Melinda reached for the handle, which creaked. They stepped in and spread out. Melinda clutched the potion tightly. Chris walked slowly up the stairs. His foot landed on the ninth step. He felt his air being taken from him and grasped his throat. Melinda turned briskly around.

"Chris!" she shouted. Helen saw him and ran for the stairs. Chris took a step back and tripped over the step, falling to the ground. Melinda ran to him and quickly opened his mouth, forcing him to swallow the potion. He coughed until he felt dizzy. His head fell back. Melinda quickly stood up and took a step back. A transparent form of him slowly rose above his limp body. Helen stepped next to Melinda. They heard a loud 'thump' from behind them. They turned around to see a teenage Native American girl, staring at them with scared eyes.

Helen ran to her. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

The girl looked from Chris's ghost to Melinda back to Helen.

"I…I, my friends, they…" she stuttered out.

Helen groaned. "Honey, did you _not_ hear about the killings here earlier today? What kind of friends do you have?"

Chris's ghost floated up the stairs. "I see him!" He started chanting.

"_Ashes to ashes_

_Spirit to spirit._

_Take his soul,_

_Banish this evil."_

The ghost started yelling as Chris kept repeating the spell. White holes of bright light shot through the transparent body. He screamed in pain as he exploded in a bright light Chris slowly hovered downstairs. Helen walked back to Melinda's side. Melinda prepared to throw the potion to bring Chris back into his body. He stopped her.

"Wait!"

She stopped. "What?"

He looked to his side. "Where's that girl you were just talking to?"

"Right here…" she turned around. The girl was gone. They heard a scream from the kitchen. "Oh great." Melinda and Helen ran to the kitchen.

Chris stayed back. "I'm going upstairs. I think I sense something."

They ran to the kitchen to see the girl's body on the ground, with a knife in her stomach, surrounded by blood. Helen winced. She quickly yanked the knife out and placed her hand over the wound. A bright glow shone on the girl. Melinda noticed a brown bracelet on the girl's wrist. She looked sideways at it. The blood swiftly went back into her body. The girl gasped and jumped up.

"What happened?" Helen asked her.

"The knife," she said in between gasps. "It came out of nowhere." Melinda picked up the knife and stared at it. "But Chris killed Yankee Jim. It doesn't make sense."

The girl looked at Helen and Melinda.

"Yankee Jim?" she questioned. Helen looked back at her, helping her to her feet.

The girl shook her head. "If you guys are talking about ghosts, it's probably one of the Whaley's," she stated.

"Hey, missy, if you knew this place had ghosts, what the hell do you think you're doing sticking your nose in here," Helen asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"The Whaley's?" Melinda asked, ignoring Helen. "But, those ghosts were banished years ago. I read it in the book."

Helen finally led them out of the kitchen. "We shouldn't stay in here."

"Oh no," Melinda said. Helen looked at her, who ran to Chris's body.

"Chris?" she yelled out. His ghost floated down the stairs. Melinda quickly threw the potion at his body. His body shook as his ghost placed itself in its rightful spot. He got up.

"Let's get out of here…quick," he orbed all of them back to the Magic School. Melinda grabbed the girl's arm and led her to the side of the room.

"Listen, you have to get home, and you cannot go back to that place. I can't stress this enough," she said, looking into her eyes. The girl nodded. She motioned to Chris. He looked at her curiously. She motioned to orb the girl out of there immediately. He flicked his hand, orbing her back home.

Helen looked at Melinda crazily. "Why did you just do that? She saw us use our magic."

"Because, I needed this," she lifted up her hand and unclenched her first. In her hand dangled the brown bracelet Melinda had spotted earlier. Helen looked at her.

"What?" she asked. Melinda walked over to one of the books they were looking at earlier. She turned a couple of pages and pointed to a picture of a young Native American girl who shared some features of the girl they had just been with. An identical bracelet was shown from the girl's wrist. Helen looked at the entry.

"Carrie Washburn," she read out loud. "The Whaley's neighbor who ran into a clothesline, rupturing her trachea. She was dead within minutes in the house and now haunts the place, running and playing throughout the house."

"Great, so she pretended someone stabbed her in the gut just so we would believe she's human?" Helen questioned.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, it's gotta be true. I sensed there was another ghost in the house, I just didn't think it'd be her."

"But she wasn't transparent," Helen said. "And she bled. Ghosts don't bleed."

"That's what I thought too. But ghosts _could_ possess other bodies," Melinda stated. "I think Carrie Washburn stabbed her with the knife and then possessed her body. She knew you would heal an innocent. Besides, she's not strong enough to possess just any body. She possessed the closest thing to her."

Chris and Helen waited for her to finish.

"A young Native American girl wearing this," Melinda showed them the bracelet.

Chris took it and looked at its intricate designs. Helen peered at it.

"It's from the Native American reserve down in San Diego. Carrie Washburn had one _just_ like it when she was younger. What easier body is there to possess?"

Chris handed the bracelet to Helen for her to look at.

"So this Carrie girl just got really lucky? I mean, what are the chances of a Native American girl, wearing this bracelet, coming into the house?"

"I don't know. But you know ghosts, they have plans for these kinds of things," Melinda said.

"So what do we do? We can't just kill the girl," he said.

"Yeah, but now that she's in a human body, she can feel what other humans feel," Melinda said.

Chris thought for a moment. "Meaning we could trap her in with crystals and then we'll see what we can do after that?"

Helen nodded. "Sounds good, but we just let her go. And that means that she could be out killing right now." Chris's eyes widened. He grabbed crystals from nearby and orbed with the girls.

* * *

Carrie Washburn stared at herself in the reflection of the door.

"I am loving my new look," she said out loud. She opened the door to the silent building. She made her way to a specific office. The doorplate read 'Jonathan Kreimure'. She punched the door open. A young man sitting at his desk, bent over papers with a single lamp light on, jumped up.

"Who the hell are you?" he yelled out in a panicked voice. She grabbed his collar and pushed him up against the wall.

"Because of your family ancestors," she spit out, "my good friend Jim Robinson was hanged. I will hunt down everyone involved in that, including your family, to avenge his death." He let out two short breaths.

"No, please," he managed out.

"Let go of him," a voice came from behind her. She let go of Jonathan to face Melinda and Helen standing next to each other, with arms crossed. Jonathan fell to the ground. He scrambled, trying to run out of there. Carrie stopped him with her foot and took out a knife. Melinda quickly flickered her hands at her, sending her flying across the room in a fiery explosion. Chris orbed in placing the crystals around her as she struggled to get up. Helen led the man out of the room, telling him to get out of there.

"If you tell anybody what you saw here, you'll be sorry," he looked at her bewildered. "That's a promise."

He nodded, running off. Carrie got up slowly and looked after him. She tried stepping out of the circle but fell backwards as a wall of white blocked her. The crystals glowed. She looked down. Helen put her hands on her hip.

"Hmph."

Melinda approached her. "What I don't get, is why are you trying avenge Jim's death? He was already long dead by the time you were alive."

Carrie laughed. "What do you think we do for hundreds of years?"

"Kill?" Helen answered.

"No. We do what any other _human_ person does," she spit out.

"We talk. We become friends, and his death was unfair. Come to think of it, I should kill _you._" She pointed to Chris.

He chuckled. "Alright see, but if you did that, then we wouldn't be able to do this." He emerged with a potion.

"Crystal," he yelled, orbing one of the crystals out of place. He threw the potion at her feet. She screamed as her face flashed from Carrie to the body she was using. The ghost split from the body, which fell limp on the ground. The girls started chanting a spell.

"_Infernal bones turned to waste_

_Give this ghost what she has chased."_

Carrie screamed as her ghostly body seemed to burn away. Red acidic fire enveloped her body as she disappeared. Chris covered his eyes. The crystals died down. Helen walked over to the silent crystals and picked them up.

"Nice spell," she remarked.

Melinda nodded. "I figured since we didn't have time to burn away her bones with our potion, the spell would work. She wanted to kill other people to avenge his death, so her desire for death came back to her. Karma."

Chris nodded. "Okay, we better get out of here before somebody gets here and finds us." Melinda and Helen huddled with Chris as they orbed back.

Helen walked over to the books in Magic School and started putting them away.

"We totally sucked the fun out of the Whaley House," she said. Chris laughed.

"Well at least people aren't dying anymore. Besides, people like to believe what they want to believe. And I'm sure half the world still thinks it's haunted."

Melinda agreed. "Don't be surprised if the next visitor feels choked on the ninth step."

Chris turned to her. "Hey, you know, _that_ was not a myth. He did start choking me." She patted his chest.

"Alright buddy," she walked over to Helen, who headed down the long hallway of Magic School, laughing. Chris stood there, open-mouthed. He let out two sarcastic huffs and coughed. He shook his head.

* * *


	6. VI: One More Reason

Prue ran down the stairs to get a snack. She just spent two hours studying for her Non Western Civilization class. She sighed and opened the refrigerator, planting herself in front of it. She took out some strawberries. The phone rang. She ran to it.

"Hello?"

"Prue?" the voice asked. She recognized her sister's voice and leaned on the counter, her ear glued to the phone..

"Penny, hi. You never told me how the evaluation was a week ago."

"I think it went well. I didn't spill the coffee!"

Prue laughed. "Great! You're totally getting a job there, just you wait."

"I hope. Is Mom home, I haven't talked to her for days." Prue backed off the counter and opened a screen door separating the kitchen from the hallway, which led to their spacey, comfortable living room. The blinds were closed and the big screen T.V. was on silent. She peered in to see her Mom on her laptop, working. Her advice column at the Bay Mirror was going strong for 26 years, along with several best-selling books about love. Before she had Prue, she hosted her own Ask Phoebe talk show, but became overwhelmed with work so she cancelled the show. Her position in the Bay Mirror was the strongest in the newspaper. It had expanded and a book on some of her best advice was being published in several weeks. She walked over.

"Mom? It's Penny," she handed her the phone.

"Honey?" Phoebe said into the phone. Prue walked off, the voices becoming more distant. She shut the door and sat at the counter. She thought for a moment and looked at the clock. It read 6:51 P.M. She took out her cell phone from her pocket and dialed.

"Hello?" a male voice answered.

She smiled. "Max, hi." She heard his smile.

"Baby, hi. How are you?"

"Sitting at home on a Friday night," she said. He laughed.

"When should I pick you up?"

She laughed. "You don't have to. You're probably busy."

"Naww, I'm lame and studying for chem. I need a break to see my angel."

"Seven-thirty okay with you?"

"See you soon, beautiful," he hung up. She bit her lower lip and examined the ring. When she first mentioned the ring, he seemed almost confused. _What ring?_ He had asked. She showed him her hand and he suddenly slapped his forehead. _Right, right. Anything for my girl_. She had shrugged it off. He seemed tired that day anyway. Funny thing was she tried to get a read off of him with her empathy. She knew the power was still weak, but it had usually worked somewhat. But she couldn't get anything off of him. She sighed and got up.

"Mom, I'm going out with Max," she shouted, heading up the stairs. Her mom shouted okay. She took a quick shower and headed to her bedroom closet. She flipped through every hanger, disagreeing with everything she owned. She looked up and saw an acceptable shirt in a box on the top shelf. She jumped up trying to reach it. With no success, she sighed.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," she said. She closed her eyes, attempting to levitate her way to the shirt. She felt the familiar spark in her body ring. It suddenly died down. She opened her eyes to notice her feet were barely above the ground, no more than a tiptoe. She lowered herself to the ground. She knitted her eyebrows together in concern.

_I'll just try again._ She patted her hands at her side and closed her eyes. She felt the spark again and opened her eyes to see her at level height with the box. She grabbed the shirt.

"Hmph," she said. "That's more like it." She lowered herself and thought about the failed attempt. She shook her head.

_No need to get panicked. It only happened once. _She looked at the shirt again and thought to herself. _What was I thinking? I want to bind my powers and using them on a regular basis is not the best impression to convince Mom and Dad. _She exasperatedly sighed. _Just think about Max. It's all about you and Max tonight. _She smiled at the thought of his curly bronze hair and his deep brown eyes. His smile made her melt to her knees and just the thought of him made all her worries fade away. The clock read seven-twenty. She quickly dressed and made herself up. A car honked outside. She grabbed her purse and ran downstairs.

"Bye Mom," she shouted.

"Bye sweetie," she responded. Prue ran to the familiar Jeep and got into the front seat. His gaze turned to her. She shared a kiss with him and pulled back.

"Hi."

He laughed. "Hi." He leaned in for another kiss and started driving out of the driveway. They reached the road and headed to one of Prue's favorite places. A small café located in a three story bookstore. He coughed.

"So how's studying been going?"

"Ehh, okay. Test's gonna be killer and I'm busy this weekend so hopefully, those past hours were worth it," she said. He nodded. They chatted throughout the ride until they arrived. They stepped in and bought warm drinks, wandering in the private areas of the bookstore. He sipped his coffee and coughed again.

"You okay?"

He nodded. "I might be getting a cold, no big deal. Hey, listen, my dad wants me to get a book. I'll be right back."

"Sure, I'll just be roaming around here," he kissed the top of her head and quickly headed to a different section. She drank her cappuccino and examined the book titles. She snorted as she spied a bright pink and green book labeled Spells for Teens! She reached for the paperback and shook her head. The spells were absurd ranging from banishing a bad teacher to becoming the most popular in school.

"Ridiculous, the wording's all wrong," she said out loud.

"What's all wrong?" a voice from behind startled her. She dropped the book. She quickly bent down to pick up the book, but Max reached it before her. He sat down.

"Spells for Teens!" he read. He looked at her. She sat down and laughed.

"Title looked ridiculous, just wanted to see what it was," she nervously answered. He laughed and opened it, setting the book he got for his dad aside.

He put on a mock voice, "Spells are a sacred part of a witch's life. These specific spells were written for teens just like you so recite and enjoy." He threw it back on the shelf. She looked at him.

"What, you don't…believe in witches?" she questioned with a cautious voice.

He noticed the change in her voice. "Well, I never really thought about it." She looked down and drank her cappuccino.

"Do you?"

She looked up at him. "Yea, I do. I mean, they're people, like us. You believe everything they teach us in history, so why not believe something like this is real."

"I guess it could be possible," he thought for a moment. "I mean, there are stories and there's the whole Salem witch hunt stuff. It'd be weird though. If there are people out there who are actually witches and have powers and everything, you'd think they'd stop the world from being such a corrupted place."

"What if they try to fix it, but sometimes it's hard to stop _every_ bad guy," she started to rant. "What if there are supernatural beings out there that witches fight and they keep them from ruining the world and killing other people, but there will always _be_ more bad guys than good witches and what if…"

He put up his hands. "Whoa, calm down! I think you're right; that there are a lot more bad guys than witches. I mean, we don't exactly hear about open witches around here. So I think if witches are real and they are out there fighting for us, then they keep it pretty private. I get that, but what I don't get is they should try to save everyday things like houses burning down or people getting mugged out on the streets or something, you know?"

He scratched the back of his head nervously and tiredly lowered his head. She bit her lip again.

"Yea," she quietly said. "I know what you mean. But that's a lot of responsibility to put over one person." He looked up, examining her sad eyes. He put her chin in his hand and made her face him.

"Cheer up. I didn't mean to make you sad. I didn't know it meant this much to you," he said, considerately. She nodded.

"Yeah," she changed her tone. "Let's go sit down at a table or something." She smiled. He helped her up and put his hand on her back. She couldn't get the nagging feeling off her back. _Another reason to bind my powers._

* * *

A green demonic energy ball flew at a young girl's body. Wyatt jumped in front of her, orbing with her to a different location. Junior appeared behind the demon and threw a potion at his feet. He fell down on his knees as flames burst out of him. Wyatt orbed back with the girl. She panted.

"Thanks guys," she said, putting her hand up to her head.

"Next time, be a little more prepared. A couple of potions won't cover it, you should have wrote a spell," Wyatt lectured. Junior nodded in agreement. She looked at them apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think he was that powerful." Wyatt nodded.

"I'm going to orb her home, why don't you head back to the apartment," he told Junior. He nodded and double blue orbing lights filled the room as they both disappeared into the dark skies of the England night.

Junior orbed to Wyatt's apartment and within minutes, Wyatt appeared. It was around three in the afternoon in San Francisco while it was eleven in the evening in England. Wyatt's charge was under attack so they rushed over there.

Wyatt looked down at the coffee table.

"Shall we return?"

Junior looked down and back up at Wyatt. They both ran to their seats on couches across from each other, with the table in between. Junior looked down, concentrating hard, thinking. Wyatt's face slowly twisted into a huge smile, bopping his head back and forth in happiness.

"HA!" he yelled jumping up. Junior slammed his fist down on the table.

"Sweet, sweet victory," Wyatt said, pumping his hands up in the air.

"Rematch," Junior pleaded.

"No way brother, I won fair and square. You shouldn't have moved your piece," Wyatt shot back. He stretched and sat on the couch.

Junior looked back at him and shook his head. "What are we doing man?"

Wyatt motioned his hands to the table. "Playing checkers?"

Junior got up exasperatedly. "Checkers? _Checkers?_"

Wyatt crossed his arms, relaxing on the couch. "What are you talking about here, Junior?"

"This! I mean, it's Friday night. We've been sitting in your apartment, playing _checkers_, waiting for the next demon attack on one of our charges…"

Wyatt shook his head. Junior paced back and forth and stared at Wyatt, open-mouthed.

"Are you seriously not getting this man?"

Wyatt widened his eyes.

"We are such losers. We've got no lives; we've got no girls…" Junior sat down and placed his hands on his knees. Melinda emerged from her bedroom, with an empty glass. She made her way to the kitchen, which overlooked the living room.

"Hey what are you guys doing here?" she asked, as she refilled the glass. She walked over to Wyatt's side and sat on the arm of the couch, drinking her clear water.

"Talking about our lame lives," Junior said.

"Yeah, our apparent lame lives," Wyatt commented, apparently clueless. Melinda almost choked on her water. She pulled the glass away from her mouth and patted Wyatt on the shoulder.

"You naïve little boy." He looked at her.

"What? You agree with him?" he questioned.

Melinda nodded. "Lately, all you've been doing is fighting demons and helping your charges. When are you going to start helping yourself…by getting a social life?"

Junior lifted his hands towards her. "There. Even your sister gets it." He started fumbling with his feet.

"So what are we supposed to do? We can't just stop helping our charges," Wyatt said.

"I'm not saying that. I'm all for saving people, but we need our own lives too."

Wyatt leaned forward. "Where do guys our age go around here?"

Melinda laughed, getting up from her seat and walking towards her room. Junior pointed to her. She stopped at her door and leaned on the frame. Junior raised his eyebrow and put on a puppy dog look. She shook her head and smiled.

"Alright," she finally managed out. "One of my friends is taking me to a club…"

"A club? You shouldn't be going to a club, you're underage…" Wyatt started. Junior picked up a pillow and threw it at him. He let it hit his face and threw it back at Junior. She turned her head sideways, scratching the hair under her loose bun. Junior motioned for her to continue.

"He's picking me up in a couple of hours, so if you guys wanna come…"

Wyatt looked at her. "He?"

She smirked and turned around, slamming her door. Junior looked back at Wyatt and put on a goofy grin, lifting his leg onto his other knee, nodding. He turned to Wyatt again, staring at his somber look. Junior's grin faded.

"The chicks, man! The _chicks_," he said, throwing the pillow back at him and walking off. Wyatt hung onto the pillow and stared at the empty space where Junior sat. He sighed.

* * *


	7. VII: Grace

Melinda slipped on her favorite earrings and fixed her makeup. She let her hair loose, letting it bounce around her. She heard a distant knock from the front door and muffled, male voices. She rushed out of her room. Wyatt talked to her date, as Junior leaned against the wall, staring at Wyatt.

She quickly ran to her date's side.

"Ian!" she slipped her arm around his, pulling him gently away from Wyatt's interrogations. Wyatt stopped talking.

"Alright," she said, excitedly. She pulled him towards the door.

"Follow his car, and I guess we'll _not_ see you there." She smiled and rushed out with Ian. He waved goodbye, and the door slammed close. Wyatt grabbed his jacket, gloomily. Junior followed him out the door, throwing his jacket over his shoulder. He shut up the lights.

Wyatt quickly headed out of the building, and into his car. They followed Ian's car twenty minutes to a lively club. They parked and got out of the car.

"Oxygen?" Wyatt questioned. Junior nodded front and back, excitedly. He hit his shoulder.

"Let's go have some fun."

* * *

Junior and Wyatt fumbled with the front door and walked in to the apartment. The lights were on. Melinda had pushed back the couch Junior sat on earlier to its rightful place and sat there, watching T.V. comfortably. She turned her head.

"Hey," she said cautiously. They sat down sullenly.

"How'd it go?" A moment of silence passed. She looked back and forth from their brooding expressions.

Junior exploded. "It **sucked**." She jumped in her seat. Wyatt just sat there, shaking his head.

"Yeah, so we tried, you know, talking to people; that didn't work. We tried dancing; we looked gay, _considering_ we were the only guys dancing with each other."

Wyatt let out a laugh. Junior rested his head on his hand.

"It was not our scene," Wyatt said. "And it shouldn't be yours…ever again."

"Wyatt, I can handle myself. It's just sad for you. You are young guys who don't like going to clubs…?"

Junior got up. "I don't know. Maybe we've been too concentrated on our charges that we don't really care about this stuff, like clubbing and partying." Melinda shrugged.

"Isobel and Chris are going to that party Friday night. The one the new neighbors are hosting," she suggested.

Wyatt nodded. "Yeah, I remember him mentioning that."

"It'll be a lot quieter, you could actually talk to people…Right up your alley," she said. Junior nodded.

"Sounds good. I'm going home," he got up. "If something happens just call me." Blue orbs enveloped his body as he disappeared.

Wyatt leaned forward.

"Oh my gosh. Junior…"

Melinda cut him off. "I saw him dancing. You don't have to say anymore." They laughed.

* * *

Dora sat in her seat and looked over her class. The kids were sitting silently, with heads bent down, and hands furiously writing. She had just passed out an exam in her potion making class and observed each student carefully. She made sure to cast an anti cheating spell, but she still watched each kid like a hawk. After several long minutes, she sighed and leaned forward in her seat, organizing a stack of papers. She had to grade several essays and what better time to start grading. Seconds turned to minutes and kids slowly appeared at her desk, handing in their exams and leaving the classroom. The bell rang and three students shot out of their seats, handing in their finished exams. Brett finished his last question and slowly got up, swinging his backpack over her shoulder. He walked up to her desk and set it down. He leaned on her desk. She stacked the exams together, paper clipping them and slipping them into her bag. She looked at him.

"What's up?" she questioned.

He pointed to her bag. "Can you grade it now?"

She hesitated. "Brett, I'll give the tests back on Monday."

"Come on, I studied for hours, just…please?" he shot her a wounded puppy look. She rolled her eyes and sighed, reaching into her bag. He looked down victoriously and smiled. He pulled up a chair from the nearest empty desk and sat across from her. She sat down and took out a red pen, reviewing his test. He looked anxiously at her. She quickly skimmed through his circled answers, checking back and forth from the answer sheet. She used her empty hand to brush her short hair back.

"Okay," she said after what seemed like the longest time. He grabbed it apprehensively and looked at the red mark bearing his grade. His facial expression changed and he jumped out of his seat.

"Yes!" he shouted, showing off the red 'A'. He started doing a dance around himself. She got up and laughed.

"Okay, okay. You deserved it, now I need the test back to put it in my record book," she walked around the desk and reached for the test. He continued dancing and lifted it out of her reach. She stood on her tip toes and leaned over, trying to grab it.

"Come on."

He laughed, taking steps back and extending his hand higher. She jumped up. He leaned back on the classroom heater. She leaned towards him, attempting to reach the paper.

"Enough, enough!! I need the paper," she said, jumping up. He instinctively wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned his head forward, resting his lips on hers. She stopped struggling and kissed him back. A loud hit was heard coming from the direction of the door. Dora jumped away from the kiss and turned around. The door opened and her Aunt Paige strolled in, with a box.

"Dora, I need help with some schedules; a lot of kids didn't get the right class placements and I need to reorganize a ton…" she stopped short as she noticed their nervous expressions. "Am I…interrupting something?" She raised her eyebrows. Dora snatched the test from his hands and turned towards her Aunt. She pointed to her, waving the test towards her.

"I'm here to help, let me just pack up," she rushed back to her bag and stuffed the test in, hanging the bag around her shoulder. Her Aunt left, and as she followed, she shot a look to Brett. The door slammed shut. She rhythmically walked side by side with Paige. Without looking at her, she questioned her.

"So what was that all about?"

Dora looked at her. "What was…what all about?"

"There was nothing happening in there before I walked in?"

Dora shook her head. "Of course not."

Paige turned to face her and stopped her before they opened the office door.

"Good," she said, looking at her doubtfully. "Nothing can happen, you have to understand that."

Her eyes widened and she looked down. Paige looked at her sympathetically. She opened the door, with Dora following.

"This was a bad idea. We never should have let you teach here, you're too close in age with all these students. Several are even college students; older than you!"

Dora shook her head. "No, come on, Aunt Paige. I love this job. It actually…it gives me stability in my life. Give me another chance to prove that I can do this."

Paige stopped and looked at her anxious face again. She sighed.

"Okay. Start unloading the papers."

Dora nodded and began taking out stacks of papers from the box Paige had brought in.

* * *

Wyatt finished his last step up the stairway. He headed to one of the only two doors on the floor, to the source of the music. Junior had arrived earlier with Chris and Isobel while Wyatt protected yet another innocent. It was around 9:00 P.M. He was about to knock reluctantly on the door when it swung wide open. He came face to face with his brother. Chris's face lit up and he slapped Wyatt's hand with their daily "hello" gesture.

"Hey man! Where've you been?"

Isobel appeared behind Chris. Wyatt said 'hello'.

"Uhh, just _out_," he commented, emphasizing the word 'out'. Chris nodded.

"Alright, well, we were sent to get drinks," he waved bills of twenty. Wyatt nodded and waved goodbye as they bounced down the stairs, laughing. He stepped into the spacious apartment. It had several people walking around or sitting down, chatting. The main entrance led to the big living room which led further down a slim hallway to several closed doors. The kitchen was much like Wyatt's, shared with the living room over a countered window. He looked around for Junior, who was nowhere in sight. He grabbed one of the last cups of what looked like water and sat down, drinking. Junior suddenly emerged from the area around the hallway with a brown-haired, brown eyed male. He looked around their age, and several inches taller than Junior. He spotted him and waved, heading towards him. Wyatt stood up.

"Hey Wy. How did that thing go?" Junior asked. Wyatt nodded reassuringly, telling him it went okay. Junior turned to the guy he was talking to.

"This is Ephraim, he just moved in here with his girlfriend," he introduced. Wyatt shook hands with him.

"I'm Wyatt Halliwell, Junior's cousin and also, uh, Chris's brother, if you met him," he said. Ephraim nodded.

"Oh right, I did. Sure a lot of Halliwells at the party," he commented, smiling. Wyatt nodded, laughing.

"Yeah, we're pretty close."

"Man, you have to see this one room of his. He's got a _sick_ pool table," Junior said, excitedly. Ephraim nodded.

"Yeah, go check it out, I'm gonna see what's going on in here," he patted Junior on his back shoulder blade and smiled at Wyatt. "Nice meeting you."

"You too," Wyatt said, as Ephraim walked past him to a group of other people. Junior nodded.

"Come on dude!" he grabbed his sleeve and pulled him towards the room. He pulled Wyatt away, but stopped short. Wyatt bumped into him.

"Ahh. Junior? What's up?"

Junior let go of Wyatt and kept staring. Wyatt followed his glance to a brunette girl. She was tall, towering over several other girls in the room, with past the shoulder hair. Her eyes gleamed from the lights above as she laughed at something a guest said. Ephraim stood next to her, his hand on her back. Junior stood frozen in his position. Wyatt looked again at the girl and back at Junior.

"Grace," he whispered, mesmerized by her identical resemblance to his past love. The past love that was viciously torn to pieces. By a werewolf.


	8. VIII: Against the Rules

**Author's Note: Hiya everyone!! Thanks for the great reviews, it really helps me and inspires me to keep writing. I'm a little behind schedule and my postings have been catching up to the amount I've written. I have about 5 pages written after this update and that's not a lot so I'm going to _try_ to hold back on updating (which will be much harder on me than on you). Haha . So please try to understand!! Critiques welcome!**

* * *

Dora rushed out of Magic School, getting a student to orb her home. She was in desperate need of rosemary and she couldn't find any at the School. She knew she always kept some in her room. She shuffled through her drawer, taking out a small box keeping all her herbs. She nervously sighed as she couldn't find it and dumped the contents of the box onto her bed. No rosemary.

"Ughh," she sighed. "Mom?"

Her mom appeared at the door. "Hey honey, aren't you supposed to be at school?"

Dora nodded. "I need rosemary for my class, but I can't find mine."

Phoebe knitted her eyebrows together. "Don't you usually keep it in the box?"

She nodded again. "Yeah, and I know I stocked up last time, but I'll deal with it later. I need it quick, class starts in five minutes." Phoebe nodded, leading her to their attic. It didn't quite live up to the Manor's attic but it was homey, filled with magical items. Dora used to spend hours and nights just laying around, reading up on family history and magic. Her mom opened a drawer and emerged with a plastic bag, filled with rosemary. Dora smiled and hugged her.

"Thank you!" she threw a potion she had in her pocket down at her knees, which conjured her back to the school. She bustled down the hallways until she reached her class. She made her way to her desk when she spotted Brett sitting in one of the desks. She groaned. All week, she's been trying to avoid a one-on-one meeting. She had no idea what he expected. What he felt…She knew she definitely felt something.

_But I can't feel anything. It's against the rules and I promised. I promised._

She put on a professional face.

"Can I help you, Brett?"

He fidgeted with his fingers and got up, leaning against one of the desks.

"I want to talk to you," he said. She looked at him, gesturing for him to continue. She gently placed the rosemary into her work bag.

"The kiss…"

"Shhhhh!" she interrupted, approaching him. "Nothing happened, okay? Nothing can happen, nothing will happen. Puts _my_ job at risk and I'm not willing to give that up."

"So you're telling me you felt nothing?" he asked. She stared at him hard and flickered her eyes to the side, with an angry expression on her face.

"No, it meant nothi…" With a brisk movement, he wrapped both his hands around her head, hunching down to reach her lips. They bumped into the desk, and she kissed back, relentlessly.

* * *

Prue walked down the hallway, just passing through during her spare time. She stopped at a classroom, knowing Dora taught there regularly. Hearing a strange noise, she pushed the already open door wider. Her mouth widened, along with her eyes.

"Oh my…" she tried closing the door but missed the handle, slipping. Dora pulled away and turned to her. Brett groaned and crossed his hands behind his head.

"Prue, are you alright?" Dora asked, with an alarmed look. She helped her up as Prue nodded.

"Uhm. I'm sorry…for barging in and, uhm…I'm just gonna..," she stammered, pointing to the door and discreetly slipped out, closing the door. Dora stared at the closed door, her back to Brett. He slowly walked up behind her as she extended her hand to her forehead. She turned around to face him. He looked down at her vulnerable eyes.

"I'm not sorry I did that. And I know you're not. So figure it out," he said.

"It's not that _simple_," she argued. She started ranting. "You don't understand how this could hurt me, and you! You're a student, I'm a teacher. This cannot work."

"I'm twenty two! I'm older than you. It shouldn't be that big of a problem," he shot back.

She angrily shook her head. She shuffled back to her desk as the bell rang. He opened the door and walked out. She rested her head in her hands, thinking.

* * *

Junior sat sullenly on the couch, drinking warily. He'd been watching the girl he spotted earlier for hours. The party had gotten quieter as more and more people left. Wyatt took a seat next to him.

"Junior. Let's get going," he suggested. Junior just shook his head, continuing to drink. Wyatt sighed and leaned back. Junior started to get up, putting his drink down. Wyatt glanced up at him, panicked at his next move. He walked over to the girl. She smiled up at him.

"Hi, I'm Selena," she introduced. He returned the smile.

"Junior," he shook her hand. He stared at her as their conversation silenced. Ephraim appeared next to Junior.

"Hey Junior, you met my girl?" he swiftly walked over to her side and slipped his hand around her waist. Junior looked down.

_She looks so much like her._ He looked back at her and nodded.

"Yeah, it's great to meet you," he commented. She nodded, still smiling.

"Hey Ephraim!" a distant voice shouted. He nodded to Junior and walked off, leaving Junior and Selena alone.

"So do you live nearby?" she questioned.

He nodded. "Couple of blocks over, but I usually hang out at my cousin's house. He lives downstairs."

"Chris?"

He nodded. "Yeah, plus Wyatt over there and another cousin, Melinda."

He stared at her again. She looked down, uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry. You just look…like someone I used to know."

She nodded. Wyatt walked up behind Junior and pulled his arm.

"Junior, let's go."

He nodded. "It was great to meet you…Selena."

"Same to you. Hope you had fun," she smiled. Wyatt waved goodbye and shoved Junior out of the door. He looked at his cousin, who had an astonished look on his face.

"She looked so much like her. Didn't you see it?"

Wyatt nodded, noticing the strong resemblance. Junior looked past Wyatt and flashbacked to 2026.

_"So no matter what happens when we get in there, we meet up later tonight at our place in the park," Grace had said with gleaming eyes. _

_"You sure this is a good idea?" Junior questioned, looking doubtfully at her front door. _

_She nodded. He slipped his hand through hers and they opened the front door. Her parents were seated in their living room. They looked up as they entered and sat on the couch across from them._

_"Mom. Dad," she started. Her parents glanced at each other, worryingly._

_"Junior and I want to get married," she blurted out. Her mother gasped and her father frowned. She uneasily let go of his hand when five minutes had passed with silence. Junior spoke up._

_"I love your daughter, and we may seem young, but we want to be together and what better commitment than marriage?" _

_Her father squinted several times. Her mother finally spoke. _

_"Are you sure about this?" she quietly asked her daughter. Grace nodded._

_"It was my idea and I love him. You two know how that is, you were married at my age," she said. _

_"College," her father said. "You can get engaged now, but there will be no wedding until after college." Junior looked at Grace, who smiled and nodded. _

_"What do you parents say about this, Henry?" her mother asked._

_"We haven't talked to them yet, we were going to go after we talked to you," he said. She nodded and broke into a smile._

_"Okay," she said, in a quivering voice. Grace got up and hugged her mother, who had started to cry. Junior shook her father's hand. Grace hugged her father and smiled._

_"We have to go to Junior's house. I'll be home later tonight," she kissed her father and hugged her mother again. Junior smiled and waved as Grace pulled them out of the door. Within minutes, they drove to Junior's home. They stepped in to the quiet home. She set her bag down on the couch._

_"Hello?" he called out. Footsteps were heard stomping down the stairs._

_"911," he recognized his sister's voice shout out. Tricia came into view. She stopped as she noticed Grace with him. _

_"Hi…Grace. How are you?'_

_"I'm good," she scratched her short blonde hair. "Everything okay?" Tricia's smiled stayed plastered on her face and she looked at Junior._

_"Actually, we have a family emergency and we need Junior…if that's okay."_

_Grace's eyes widened. "Of course, I hope everything's okay."_

_Tricia nodded. "Oh, it will be. Thanks."_

_Grace turned to Junior. "Meet me later if you can. I'll be at our place." She kissed him lightly and hugged him. He walked her to the door. _

_"Who's the demon?"_

_Helen appeared from the direction of the kitchen. "Not demon. Werewolf." _

_She turned her back and Tricia and Junior followed her back to the kitchen. _

_"Werewolf?" he questioned._

_She nodded. _

_"Okay, do we have anything to scry for him, because I need to talk to Mom and Dad soon." _

_Tricia turned to him. "What's the rush?" Helen looked curiously at him. _

_"Well, if you must know. Grace and I…we want to get married." Helen dropped her phone, which she was fumbling with. She quickly picked it up._

_"Married?"_

_He nodded. _

_"Are you sure you're ready for that?" Tricia questioned. He looked at her._

_"Hey, don't be a hypocrite. You and Alex have been engaged for a year now and you're only 18." She waved her hand at him._

_"Psh. We're adults. You're just a kid," she said. Helen laughed._

_He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Let's get this werewolf out of the way."_

_Tricia nodded. "Okay, well Helen managed to pull some of his hair out." She laughed again. "Not as easy as it looks!" _

_"There are different myths on how to kill werewolves. We could decapitate its head and remove its heart…"_

_Helen grimaced. _

_"Or we could use silver bullet, but who knows how accurate that is." _

_Junior nodded. "Has Mom ever come across a werewolf before?"_

_Helen shook her head. "She said Aunt Piper once became a type of werewolf; a wendigo." _

_"And it was killed by a flare gun to the chest, so maybe we could use a silver bullet," Tricia finished. _

_Junior nodded. "Werewolves can die by mercury too." Helen nodded._

_"I think we should make silver and mercury bullets," Tricia continued. They nodded in agreement. Tricia and Junior went upstairs to get some pure silver. Helen went to her room on the first floor and found a thermometer. She cracked it and used an eyedropper to get some mercury out. Once she finished, she gently set it down. She pulled out her necklace from under her shirt, which had a small key attached to it and used it to open her drawer, which contained all sorts of guns with boxes of bullets. Taking out a box of bullets, she took five out, drilling the nose of the bullet. Inserting the mercury into all five bullets, she sealed it skillfully shut with lead. She stopped what she was doing when she felt a presence behind her. Turning slowly around she heard the slow breath of the hairy creature she had encountered earlier. _

_Tricia and Junior heard their sister's loud scream. Looking at each other, they both orbed downstairs. Helen was struggling to get up. She was sprawled over their dining room table. Tricia helped her up. Junior looked back at her room. The werewolf flew from it and jumped on him. He orbed out of the way and orbed a lamp over him. It barely harmed him. _

_Helen ran to her room and grabbed the bullets, pushing them into the gun. A knock was heard from the door and it slowly opened. _

_"Junior? I forgot my pur…" she stopped talking as she saw him orbing more items at the beast. _

_"Oh my god." Junior looked at her, his eyes widening._

_"Grace! Get out of here!" he yelled in panic. She stood frozen. Helen ran back with the gun. She shot once at him. He jumped as it hit his leg. He fell to the ground, screaming in pain. He teleported away, disappearing. Tricia looked back at Helen, who glanced at Grace. She stared after the beast, her eyes wandering. The werewolf teleported behind Grace and grabbed her from behind. Her screams echoed as they disappeared._

_"Grace!" Junior shouted._

* * *


	9. IX: A Different World

Patricia walked over to the assignment board. Dozens and dozens of cases were sticking out of the folders glued to the wall. She sighed at all the open cases around town that were still yet to be solved. She had been dreading the whole day. It was October 1st, in other words, the day August would be arriving. It would soon only be minutes before his arrival. She tried relaxing the night before. The last she heard from him, they both stormed off angrily with no contact afterwards. She knew her cousin Melinda had talked to him several times before losing contact herself. She picked up a folder and walked to her office, which was a small cubby hole type place. A short wall surrounded one side of the office, which combined with a different office. She heard noises erupt from the front doors of the department. Her captain rushed from his office. As he walked over to the new officer, he banged on her desk, giving her a look. She closed her eyes and pushed a strand of her hair under her ear, which fell back out again.

"Nice to meet you Lieutenant Loft," she heard a male voice say. Footsteps approached her area.

"Say hello to your new partner, Officer Halliwell," he said, arriving at her desk. She got up, finally looking up. She recognized him by his shaggy long hair and his sparkling familiar chocolate eyes. His smile faded away and he pushed his lips together, nodding. He extended his hand.

"Nice to see you," he said genuinely. She opened her mouth, her words stuck.

"You too," she managed, extending her hand and shaking his.

Her boss nodded. "Patricia, show him around the empty desk, get him situated." He walked off, patting his new officer on the back. She pushed her hair back again and moved around the desk.

"Okay, well this is your desk," she said, in monotonic voice. He nodded, walking over and dropping a box on it. She pointed to the assignment wall.

"That's where we pick up our assignments, there's usually a bunch up there," she said. He nodded again. She watched him as he unloaded his box. She wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was. She was dying to ask about his powers, his life. But he didn't seem to be so open to share his life. He didn't seem to have forgiven her yet, and she wasn't sure she could forgive herself either. All things aside, she had said the most awful things to him before he left. Her thoughts were sidetracked as he waved his hand in front of her. She shook her head.

"What?"

"Pen? Could I use that pen?" he asked, pointing to a pen on her desk. She nodded.

"Sure."

He walked over to her side and reached for it. Above the pen stood a frame of her with Junior, Helen, Melinda and Alex. She had kept it there to remind herself of the most important people in her life. Even the ones who weren't with her anymore. Of course, she held dozens of pictures of her parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins in her car, bag, home…possibly everywhere. He pointed to the picture with the frame.

"You guys all look good," he said, walking back to his desk. She turned her head, nodding.

"Yeah, Mel's been doing really good, helping out at her Mom's restaurant and Junior and Helen are great. We all live together in this great condo and…" she trailed off, surprised at how much she blurted out and revealed. She blinked her eyes wide.

"I need to focus on this assignment I just picked up. Are you good?"

He looked at the photo and back at her, nodding. She sat down and opened the folder, reading over the information slowly and carefully.

"You know, if you want," he started. Her hand dropped from her head, on which she was resting on.

"If you want, we could all hang out. Talk about stuff, like we did…before," he suggested. She thought for a moment and started shaking her head.

"I can't. I'm busy. Maybe you should try calling Mel," she said, going back to reading her case. She couldn't handle the vulnerability. She couldn't let anything hold her back.

He nodded, brushing hair from his face. "Okay."

* * *

"Penny, come in here, I need to discuss something very important with you," Leela said, as she passed Penny's office. Penny finished her drink and walked out of the door, heading to Leela's office. Her boss pointed to the empty chair across her own desk. Penny sat down nervously.

"I think you've been doing an excellent job here," she started. Penny beamed. "So, I want to put you on a trial run. One of my clients, Kelly, is having her wedding in about a month. I want you to be in charge of the rehearsal dinner."

Penny's eyes widened. Leela put her hand.

"You do understand if you pass this test, you will get a higher placement here, meaning you will get to handle more weddings with me," she continued. "Do not mess this up." She dismissed her from her office. Penny ran back to her own and jumped up, excitedly. She checked the clock and got ready to pack up her things. Taking out her cell, she dialed her sister.

"Hello?"

"Dora?"

"Hey Penny, how's it going?" Dora asked.

She excitedly spoke to her as she ran to her car in the rain. "Leela is allowing me to plan a rehearsal dinner which is just one step closer to getting to plan a wedding!"

Dora smiled. "Yay! You must be so happy."

"I am, I am, of course," Penny said, turning her key in her ignition. The sky had darkened an hour ago and it had started to rain. She heard her sister sigh on the other line.

"What's wrong?"

She grunted. "It's a student of mine. Brett."

Penny nodded, remembering. "The cute guy."

Dora sighed again. "He kissed me. Well, I kissed him back, but…"

"Wait, hold up. You kissed your _student_?"

"No, it's not like that. He's older than me, remember?" she said, with a hopeless voice.

Penny smiled. "You made out with a student."

"Ugh, I know," she responded. "And I kinda liked it."

"Whoa," she emphasized. "You and Brett… what does Aunt Paige say about that."

"Funny you ask," Dora shot back, sarcastically. "She _loved_ it."

"Alright, alright. So you're saying you liked kissing Brett?"

Dora nodded, despite being on the phone. "And I know it's against school rules and all that, but I really, really like him Penny."

"Then screw the rules. You know as well as I do our family breaks all types of rules. Just look at mom. Don't forget she dated a _demon_," Penny commented.

Dora thought for a moment. "Yeah, but that was a whole different world. It's so in the past, it's like it never happened."

* * *

"And you're sure this is the only way?" a dark haired man asked. His black, stringy hair reached his chin. Beside him was another man, matching his height, but with brown hair and a tint of a golden hue.

"Yes. I am growing weaker by the day," a low voice responded. He towered over the other men and wore a black cloak, covering his face. The first man nodded and looked over at his friend, who gave him a look of doubt. The cloaked man handed the men vials, filled with a red tonic.

"And what is this going to do?" the friend asked.

"Change your appearances to clean yourself up. So nobody will get suspicious when you arrive," the dark figure responded.

He looked distrustfully at the figure. His friend pushed him to the side.

"Ryder, do what he says," he ordered.

"We've been in this together since day one, and I don't want to give it all up now," he responded.

"Yea, I know. But we're at a dead end here. If you haven't noticed, there is an apocalypse out there and demons are ceasing to exist. We need to get to a safer place," his friend tried to convince him.

Ryder glanced at the cloaked figure. "And what does he get out of this? Aidan, I don't trust him."

"Neither do I. But he's getting us out of here and that's all that matters."

"Yea, but to what? Who knows what kind of world we're entering," Ryder argued.

A demon suddenly shimmered in next to the figure and immediately fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. He screamed in pain as he combusted into flames.

Aidan looked back at his friend. "Can't be worse than that."

Ryder rubbed his temples. "I still don't understand why _he's_ helping us." He looked back to the dark figure, who patiently waited.

"He's dying, if you didn't realize that yet. So he needs to send the best demons out of here so at least he doesn't think he failed."

Ryder shook his head. "I'll do it, but he knows something we don't. And we'll be _damned_ when we get there."

They walked back together and Aidan drank the potion. Ryder watched as his friends hair shortened and his face cleaned up. His clothes went from torn and messy to clean and new. He felt the change and touched his short hair shockingly. Ryder quickly drank the tonic and his long hair ripped out of its ponytail. It also shortened, but up to his chin. His golden hues sparkled in the darkness and his clothes returned to its previous cleaner state.

"Now what?" Ryder barked. The dark figure weakly waved his hand at the concrete wall. A portal opened. Red and black thunder was seen inside the vortex. Aidan nodded and looked at Ryder. He extended his arm towards the deafening vortex.

"You first."

Ryder shook his head and walked in, his body glowing white. He disappeared. Aidan flickered his eyes at the dark figure once more.

"What should I expect?"

The figure looked at him sideways. "Don't you already know?"

Aidan frowned and jumped into the vortex, a white glow passing through him as well. The dark figure waved his hand over the vortex and it disappeared.


	10. X: Stolen

**Author's Note: This is slightly a shorter chapter than most because the next storyline that will be out involves more than one character. Critiques are encouraged.**

* * *

Ryder stepped out of the vortex, followed by Aidan. They faced a beige brick wall. Ryder looked to his left, where distant cars and a street were visible.

"We're here," Aidan spoke up.

Ryder checked his surroundings. "And where is exactly 'here'?"

They exchanged a look. "You know where we are."

"So what's our game plan? Get situated in the underworld? Or live up here in the wasteland?" Ryder questioned.

"I wouldn't exactly call this the wasteland. It's a lot brighter than where we came from," Aidan said as he walked around, touching the brick wall, feeling its warmth from the sun. "I say, we take a look around. See what we've been missing. Besides, in this world, as of right now…nobody's chasing us."

Ryder nodded and smiled. "We're free."

* * *

"This is peculiar," a man dressed in a long black robe commented. Prue walked in with Dora.

"What's peculiar Gabriel?" Dora addressed one of the many professors. He was examining an open book curiously. They approached him.

"This book," he commented, turning the book towards Dora.

"I was looking for it…for my class. It's been put in the forbidden vault because only people of authority are allowed to access it; your Aunt and Uncle decided it would be safer there."

Prue's eyes widened and she looked nervously at her sister. Dora examined the book.

"What's wrong with it?"

He looked up at her. "It seems a page has been…" he paused.

"Ripped out," Dora finished, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Nobody should be able to access the area, it's restricted," he said.

Dora fingered the tears. "You have anyone in mind who would want that specific page."

"The page had a precise spell to bind your powers into an object. Meaning that your powers are _in_ that item and however you use that item, the powers could be accessible in any way. It could be very dangerous if a student had possession of it, and if they used the spell, even more dangerous. The item could end up in wrong hands and used in evil ways," Gabriel explained in a breath.

"Should we set the school on magical lockdown?" Dora asked.

He shook his head and closed the book. "No, this probably happened before today. If a student did take it, we have no way of determining who did and for what reasons they needed it for. I'll just report it to Paige and keep on an eye out, will you?"

Dora nodded. "Of course." He nodded and walked off.

Prue finally spoke up. "Crazy huh?"

"Yeah, I mean, it is one thing to rip the page out, but it's another to completely disrespect the school by doing so."

Prue followed her nod. She nervously looked down and rubbed her fingers. Dora looked curiously at her, noticing her sister's nervous habits.

"Everything okay there?"

Prue nodded again.

"So you and Brett?" she quickly changed the subject.

Dora sighed. "That is a whole other problem I need to deal with."

She stacked several books in place.

"Oh come on, you two looked pretty…cozy when I caught you," Prue said with a smile. She nudged Dora and laughed.

"Hehh," Dora sarcastically imitated her sister's laugh.

"If you talked to Penny, I am one hundred percent sure that she said the same thing that I'm about to," Prue said. Dora stopped what she was doing and looked at her younger sister.

"Just go for it. Do _not_ let other people decide your life for you."

Dora closed her eyes. "I completely _hate_ when you two are right."

Prue smiled and rubbed Dora's shoulder soothingly. "Go teach your class, you have, like two minutes left."

Dora's eyes widened. She smiled in return and rushed off. Prue turned around and took a deep breath.

_If I'm not more careful, they'll catch me_. _And the faster I do this, the faster it's all over with. _


	11. XI: The Endless Battle

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone. It's been a while but I finally got back to the story after taking a break (very long one). I hope it doesn't seem to rushed but finally Prue's secret is surfaced and the consequences are far much worse than expected. I hope you enjoy this storyline as much as I enjoyed writing. I would REALLY greatly appreciate critiques and comments. I really would love to read what you guys think of it. Thanks. Dee.**

* * *

Dora stood at one side of the circle table her students were crowded around. She had a silver mortar in the center of the table, surrounded by herbs. It was her spell casting class and she was teaching her students the right way to mix ingredients.

"Now for this spell you need a yarrow root, a sprig of cypress, and a pinch of rosemary," she said, holding the ingredients in hand. Her students furiously scribbled after her. Dora skillfully threw in the yarrow root and a sprig of cypress. She picked up a leaf of rosemary when she stopped and looked at it, remembering the disappearance of her own rosemary.

"Rosemary," she whispered to herself. Brett, who was among the students, looked up at her.

"What?" he questioned. Her eyes were locked on the rosemary. She dropped the entire needle-like leaf into the bowl. The smoke that had already formed from the previous ingredients increased and a red fire exploded out of the bowl. The students, along with Dora, flew back and hit the ground. She coughed and waved the smoke out of her face.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked in panic. She was answered by several nods or "yeahs".

"Okay, _that_ was an example of what _not _to do. I used an entire leaf, whereas I should have just used a pinch of rosemary," she covered herself up. The students helped themselves up and nodded. The door barged open. A woman wearing the school's official uniform, a long black robe, ran in.

"Is everybody okay? I heard a 'boom'."

Dora nodded. "I'm sorry. There was an accident with rosemary, nothing to worry about."

The teacher nodded and threw both her hands in the air, her index fingers pointing towards the room. The smoke evaporated at record speed and the room cleared. Dora smiled.

"Thank you."

The teacher nodded again and left the room. Dora sighed and looked at the clock. There was still about twenty minutes of class left. She knew there was no way she could concentrate now.

"Okay, guys. Let's call it a day. Take the rest of the time to do your homework or just talk quietly."

The room filled with excitement as students broke into their own cliques and pulled their desks closer together. The room soon filled with hushed chatter and laughter. Dora sat at her desk, thinking. She had to find Gabriel.

The class came to a quick finish and she ran out of the room. She rushed through several rooms before she found Gabriel in the lobby of the school.

"Gabriel," she ran to him. He looked at up at her in surprise.

"Dora, is everything alright?"

She sat opposite him. "The spell in the book. What are the ingredients?"

He motioned his hands down. "The one that was ripped out?"

"Yes!" she practically screamed. She looked at him attentively.

"I don't exactly remember," he looked apologetically as her face fell. He sighed. "I remember some angelica, rosemary, peppermint leaf…"

She cut him off by bouncing up. "Thanks Gabe." She ran off and left him with his mouth wide open. She made her way to her classroom and sat down. She thought in the silence.

_My rosemary was missing from my room and it's an ingredient for the spell that's been stolen from the book. There has to be a connection. _

* * *

**October 6**

"Hey!" Helen yelled as she spotted a woman struggling to escape from a man's grip. He dropped her as he jumped from her scream. She ran past Helen and knocked her down. Helen yelped as she fell to the ground. The man approached her and a fireball formed in the palm of his hand. Her eyes widened. He suddenly screamed as he was flown into a pile of garbage. Chris leaned over his cousin and helped her up. They ran to the demon as he got up. He looked at his odds and quickly shimmered away.

"Damn," Helen said in aggravation. They turned around and headed back to her car.

"How did you find this guy?" Chris questioned on her latest demonic find.

"Well, you know me. I have nothing to do so I scryed for evil in the area."

He shook his head. "Are you insane? Do you know how much evil lurks around this city?"

She shrugged. "We saved that woman's life. That's all that matters. Let's get to the Manor and look at the book; I think we can find the demon."

The demon shimmered in before Zotar.

"I think we may be in trouble," the demon spoke.

Zotar's eyes opened. He breathed out. "Xyler, how many times have I told you to be _careful_?"

Xyler looked down and rubbed his hairless head. "I know."

"Who caught you?"

"Helen and Chris Halliwell," he managed out. Zotar's eyes widened.

"What?" he yelled out in anger. He threw two fireballs furiously at the wall. Sparks flew and Xyler kneeled down, covering his head.

"We have to attack now," Zotar declared.

"Today?" Xyler questioned.

"It's either today or never. The witches will scry for you and come looking for us."

Xyler nodded.

Zotar thought for a moment. "This actually might not be bad. Today is the middle child's anniversary with the Cupid. They'll be out all day. We can get Prue to bind her powers into the ring, while we cause distractions in the Halliwell home."

"Then we need to find the demon of astral projection," Xyler said.

Zotar nodded. "Luminus. And luckily, I know exactly where to find him." He grabbed Xyler's shirt and they both flamed out.

* * *

Prue sat on the carpeted floor of her large living room. The room smelled of fresh flowers and if the room got too quiet, noises would echo because of the high ceiling. She leaned against the couch, in between the coffee table. She heard footsteps approach her and she got up.

"Mom, you look great," she said happily as she saw her mother, dressed in a beautiful Kay Unger New York dress. Phoebe's face lit up. Coop crept up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning down to rest his head around her neck. She yelped joyfully at the surprise. Prue smiled.

"Okay honey, we'll be home late. Do _not_ stay up," Phoebe instructed. Coop smiled and led her out the door.

"Bye sweetheart," he called out to his youngest. She waved and sat back on the comfortable floor, continuing her homework. A cold gust of wind rushed past her face. She shook her head swiftly and looked at the high windows, both closed and covered by the blinds. She blinked and in that millisecond, a transparent demon appeared beside her in a white fog.

"Today's the day," he whispered. She turned her head towards the soft voice she heard. She looked to her side cautiously. She shrugged it off and continued writing.

He reappeared. "Do it." She looked up, her eyebrows knitting together. The demon smiled and disappeared. Her eyes stayed glued on an empty spot on the wall. She suddenly stood up, running up to her room and reaching under her bed. She fingered the petite box and opened it. The same items greeted her. Herbs, vials, and a small paper, containing the spell. She grabbed the ingredients and the spell and shoved the box under her bed. Prue ran out of the room, not noticing an empty vial roll from under her bed and hit against her dresser.

* * *

"I found him," Helen excitedly said, stopping at a page in the legendary Book of Shadows. Chris turned to her and walked over. She pointed to the page, which had a picture of the demon they encountered.

"Xyler," Chris read. " 'Xyler's abilities include throwing fireballs, an upper level strength. He is highly dangerous, killing countless lives of witches and innocents.' "

"There's a vanquishing spell and potion," Helen said.

Chris nodded. "Let's get started."

Xyler suddenly shimmered in. "Surprise."

Helen and Chris glanced up from the book, their eyes widened. He aimed a fireball at them. It hit Helen on the shoulder and she flew back into the window of the attic, breaking the glass. She fell to the ground of the attic as the glass shattered around her. Chris yelled out her name in panic. He spotted an athame on the table and used his telekinesis, flying it into the demon's chest. He jumped backward, not affected by the attempt. Chris ran over to Helen and shook her. He noticed the blood coming out of her mouth and quickly orbed them out. He arrived in Magic School where he rested her on the couch.

"Wyatt!" he yelled out. His older brother orbed in within seconds.

Chris motioned towards Helen. Wyatt hurriedly rushed to her side and hovered his hands over her. A soft glowing light appeared from his palm and blood started to return to her body. She blinked her eyes. Chris stopped pacing and helped her to her feet.

"Are you okay?"

She rubbed her forehead. "Massive headache. What happened?"

"The demon. Xyler, he shimmered in and blasted you. You're lucky you didn't fall out the window, the glass broke all around you."

Wyatt stood up from his crouched position. "What's going on, what demon?"

"His name is Xyler," Helen explained. "We fought him off an innocent this morning and now he's after us."

"Well, he can't get in here so we're fine for now," Wyatt commented.

Chris thought for a moment. "No, we're not. He's in the house. I orbed out as quickly as possible to save Helen. I threw an athame at him but he didn't seem to be affect..."

He abruptly orbed away. Helen glanced at Wyatt and he placed his hand on her shoulder, channeling and following his brother's orb to the Manor. Chris examined the room. The demon was nowhere in sight, but the damage he left remained.

"This is just weird, I mean, he shimmers in and hurts Helen, and what, that's it? He obviously has to know that she'd be fine, because we healed her," Chris said, in a confused look.

"Is there a vanquishing spell in the book?" Wyatt questioned. Helen nodded.

"A potion too. We were going to start to work on it, but he shimmered in."

"Then it's probably best to make the potion in Magic School so we're safe. He didn't attack anyone else in the family, right?" Wyatt asked.

Chris shook his head. "Just us."

Wyatt nodded. "Okay, just in case, I'm going to call Junior and he'll alert everyone." He orbed out in blue sparkling colors. Helen scribbled the ingredients and the spell down and Chris grabbed her arm, orbing them to the safety of Magic School.

Xyler shimmered in the moment they disappeared, followed by the flames of Zotar.

"What do we do now? It's my demise waiting to happen," Xyler yelled at Zotar.

"Not to worry. They don't about me yet. When they try to throw the potion at you, I will deflect it with my powers. And the spell won't do much without the potion," he walked over cautiously to the Book of Shadows, raising his hands over it. He longed to be able to get his hands on the book. "Besides, according to this inscription, it takes several hours for the potion to be fully affective and if Luminus did his job right, we won't have to worry about being vanquished."

Xyler nodded, convinced, yet his fists were still clenched.

* * *

Prue crept up the outside stairs of the old building and sneaked in through the dirty window. She arrived at a dark room, filled with beige blankets covering numerous objects. She walked to the center of the room and uncovered one of the blankets in one swift movement. Under the blanket a table was reveal along with several sitting pillows. She grabbed one and sat comfortably on it, resting her herbs and vials on the table. The table contained a mortar and a grinder. She looked darkly at the ring, expertly taking it off and throwing it into the mortar, getting ready to change her future.

* * *

Dora teleported into her house, arriving in the hallway that led to her room. She tossed her bag on the bed and knocked on her sister's bedroom door. When she heard no response, she opened it carefully and flipped on the lights. The room lit up with a familiar soft glow. She grunted and stepped deeper into the room. Realizing her sister wasn't in there, she turned to leave. Hearing something rattling behind her, she swiftly turned around. The empty vial slid between her feet and she picked it up curiously. She looked at the spot where she picked it up and her eyes trailed to the bed. The bedspread hung loosely on the ground. She bent down on her knees and reached under the bed. She felt something hard hit her fingers and she threw the bedspread onto the bed, revealing the space under the bed. Dora retrieved the box and fingered it, afraid to open it. She sighed and sat on the bed. A soft melody rang from her pocket. She put the box down on the bed and quickly shuffled through her pockets, looking for her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dora, we got a problem," her cousin answered back. He frantically rambled about a demon on the loose and how Chris and Helen were working on a potion at Magic School. Dora listened intently and started to tune out half of his ramblings. From habit, she fumbled with the box and opened it. Not much remained except for several vials. She frowned and was about to close it when her eye caught something at the bottom. She picked up a small green leaf in between her index finger and thumb. Her eyes widened.

"Um, Junior. I have to go," she interrupted, and hung up, despite his objections. She rotated the green leaf and confirmed her suspicions.

"Rosemary," she whispered out loud.

She ran out of the room and paced back and forth, gripping the leftover rosemary tightly. She grabbed her car keys from her room and ran to her garage. She had to get Mom.

* * *

Helen tossed in a pig's foot, pinching her nose closed. It flopped into the big pot. Chris paced back and forth, while Wyatt helped Helen with the correct ingredients.

"We're almost done, just one more thing," Helen said, tossing in the last ingredient. She was greeted with a loud "boom". She smiled triumphantly. Chris turned his head toward her.

"Done?"

Helen nodded. She took a large eyedropper and poured the potion into several vials.

"I wrote a summoning spell, but we have to work fast. When we orb back home, we need to get to the Book right away to find the vanquishing spell," Chris explained. Wyatt nodded and grabbed one vial, handing three other to Helen.

"Ready?" he questioned.

Helen nodded. They orbed away to the Manor. Helen cautiously looked around the broken attic. Wyatt ran to the Book and frantically flipped through the pages. Within seconds, he shouted.

"Found it!"

"Finally," a voice came from behind the door. Chris looked up, facing Xyler. Time seemed to slow down as Helen forcefully tossed the potion at his feet. Instead of falling, it exploded midair as Zotar flamed in front of Xyler. Helen's eyes widened and she quickly threw the other two she had at him. He deflected them, aiming towards Helen. Chris jumped to her and pushed her out of the corner, both of them crashing on the debris. The potions hit the wall. Wyatt quickly chanted the spell as Zotar prepared a fireball. Xyler looked to his left, noticing an athame on the ground. He quietly picked it up and stuck it in Zotar's back. Zotar's fireball died down as he winced. Wyatt abruptly stopped, shocked. He threw his only potion at Zotar and Xyler quickly shimmered away. Zotar fell to the ground, not dead but definitely wounded.

"Wyatt!" Chris yelled. He turned to look at his brother and nodded, sharing a look.

Wyatt expertly waved his hands in front of himself, his palms toward Zotar. A wave of red fire blasted towards the demon. He screamed as his face seemed to melt into the ground. Ashes replaced his outline on the floor. Helen walked over to the ashes and fingered the dust, which quickly disappeared from her hands.

"That was…"

"Out of the ordinary," Chris finished.

"But not the first time," Wyatt commented. He began picking up debris around the attic. The windows were still broken in pieces, a soft breeze entering the room.

Helen chanted her mother's overused spell.

"_Let the object of objection_

_Become but a dream_

_As I cause this scene_

_To be Unseen."_

The debris swiftly and magically repaired itself. Wyatt stopped cleaning.

"Let's just hope the neighbors didn't see the windows earlier," Helen commented.

"Technically, we still have a demon to catch. It's good we got that other guy, but obviously Xyler wanted him dead," Chris said.

"Possibly to take over a higher mission?" Wyatt suggested.

Helen folded her arms and glanced at Chris, who shrugged.

* * *

Xyler shimmered in before several of his demons.

"Where is Zotar?" one demanded.

"Gone," Xyler responded with force. "You bow before me now."

The demons exchanged glances and slowly kneeled on one leg.

* * *

Dora pushed the door of the restaurant open. She accidentally hit a man on the way in.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled and rushed to the front desk.

"Can you please tell me where the Halliwells are seated," she asked anxiously. The hostess looked down and back up.

"And who's asking?" she asked rudely.

"Her _daughter_," Dora rudely responded. The hostess nodded and waved her hand over as Dora followed her to her parent's table. She spotted her mom and dad quietly talking and laughing. She hesitated before she approached them, but only for a second. She stopped the hostess in her steps.

"Thank you," she said firmly, waiting for her to leave. She turned on her heels and walked away, leaving Dora alone. She quickly ran to her parent's table.

Coop looked up surprised. "Ladybug?"

Phoebe looked at her daughter, in concern. "Pandora? What's going on?"

Dora spoke in a hushed voice. "It's Prue. I think she's about to make a huge mistake."

Phoebe glanced at Coop and he stood up, waving to their waiter.

"We need a check right now. Just here," he reached into his wallet, taking out a credit card. "Please hurry, we're in a rush."

Phoebe ran to the coat room and rushed out with Coop's coat, while trying to swing hers on. The waiter handed Coop his card back. He thanked him and grabbed his coat, rushing out with his family. Once they were out the door and headed towards their cars, Phoebe questioned her frantic daughter.

"What's wrong Dora?"

"I think that Prue might be binding her powers," Dora said.

Phoebe's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"That's not even the worst of it. She's binding it into an object, meaning that whoever gets this object, gets her powers," Dora explained.

Coop shook his head. "I don't understand, how do you know all this?"

"It's a long story. I would explain, but we're in different cars."

Phoebe thought for a moment. "Call Wyatt. Get him to orb over here and take your car home, and you drive with us."

Dora nodded, calling her cousin. He orbed in within short minutes, looking a little scattered. Phoebe shoved Dora's car keys at him. She told him to take it home, no time for questions. He nodded and ran to her car. Dora followed her parents into their car. Coop started the car.

"Do you have any idea where she could be?"

Dora shook her head. "She's not at home."

"Drive to Max's," Phoebe instructed. Coop nodded, driving out of the parking lot as fast as he could.

Dora started explaining her train of thoughts, leading back to when her rosemary disappeared to when Gabriel told her about the missing spell.

Phoebe shook her head. "This is all my fault. She kept telling me and _telling_ me that she couldn't handle it. It was getting in the way of her life, I should have listened. I should have helped."

"No," Coop said forcefully. "This is _not_ your fault. She's young. It's difficult for her."

The rest of the ride remained silent. They finally turned onto Max's street. Phoebe and Dora ran out of the car and rang his door.

"Come on, come on," Dora mumbled to herself.

Max appeared at the door and unlocked it. "Mrs. Halliwell?"

"Max, do you know where Prue is tonight?"

He shook his head. "No, I thought she was at home?" He glanced at Dora, who looked helplessly at her mother. "Is everything okay?"

"No," Dora said suddenly. "Listen to me carefully Max. Prue might be in trouble and you have to tell us, right now. Is there any place you could think of that she could go to? Somewhere private? _Anything_?"

Max looked bewilderingly at her. "Umm, well, there is this old warehouse we go to sometimes. It's really quiet; we just like hanging out there."

Phoebe looked at Dora, nodding. "What's the address?"

"It's huge, on 25th Street, really hard to miss," he answered. Dora turned on her heels and almost ran off. Max grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Please tell me what's going on. If she's in danger, I need to know."

Phoebe sighed. "We don't have time for this. I'm sorry Max, we really need to go."

He disappeared behind the door and emerged seconds later, swinging his coat on.

Phoebe stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going with you," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Dora shook her head. "No, no. You can't. Just stay here. We'll call you when we find her."

"_No_," he said firmly. "I am so sick of all these secrets. Something is always going on under my nose and if you don't tell me now, it's only time before I find out on my own."

Phoebe and Dora exchanged looks.

"We can't," Dora squeaked out.

Phoebe shook her head weakly. "We don't have time to think about whether she'd hate us or not. As long as she's alive, that's all I care about."

Dora swallowed. "Max, what we're about to tell you. If it ever leaves your lips, I swear…" She didn't finish, giving him a look. He nodded.

They quickly headed down the steps of his porch and jumped into the car. Coop glanced at Max and back at Phoebe. She shook her head at him.

"25th Street," she said. He nodded.

"Prue will have a fit, but obviously you don't take 'no' for an answer."

Coop glanced at his rearview mirror and locked eyes with Max. He gave him a stern father look. Max averted his eyes and look nervously at Dora.

"Are you spies or something?" he uneasily asked her.

She scoffed, shaking her head. "We're witches."

Phoebe winced, waiting for an explosion of appall.

"Huh," was all he said, thinking for a moment. Phoebe turned all the way around in her seat, and looked at him.

"Strangely enough, I am _really_ not surprised," he said after a while.

"Listen, Max. You understand that we would never tell anybody this secret unless _somebody's_ life was in danger. We just really hoped it wouldn't be Prue's," Phoebe explained.

Dora explained Prue's situation. He remained quiet.

She waited for a response.

"Okay," he said quietly. "I don't get everything right now. All I know is that I'll do whatever it takes to help her. In this day and age, anything is possible. And I believe that you wouldn't just make something up like this. Let's get her home safe and then I'll have some time to blow off this steam. I know you guys are just waiting for me to explode."

Dora nodded, half-smiling. "She sure knows how to pick 'em."

They approached a big, empty building.

"That's it," Max whispered. Coop parked the car anywhere and they rushed to the building.

"There's an entrance to the left. A stairway leading up to the room we usually go to," Max informed. Dora nodded.

Coop ignored his words and kicked the rusty door. It flung open. They ran in.

* * *

Prue threw in the rosemary. She felt a surge of energy inside of her burst. She fell backward as white glowing orbs flew out of her body. She gasped as they flew into the mortar. The glows died down. She brought herself up to her knees and looked inside the bowl. The ring lay lifelessly in the mortar. She fingered it, picking it up. It gleamed in the candle light. She got up to her feet and closed her eyes, trying to levitate. She peeked one eye open. Her feet remained on the solid ground. A wave of pure panic passed through her. Her heart started beating faster and she panted, as though she had just run several miles. She felt her face becoming warmer.

"What have I done?" she asked herself out loud, her voice trembling. She sorted through her things, locating the spell. She turned it over and back over again, looking for any way to reverse it. She ripped the paper into pieces, putting her head on her arms. She felt a blistering tear drop on her hand. All of her feelings of not wanting her powers slowly drifted away. She came to the realization that it had been a trick. Somebody planned the whole thing from the beginning. The ring, the doubts. A demon. She panicked. She grabbed the ring and put it on her finger. She felt an energy rush and her familiar powers. A demon shimmered in behind her. She saw the candle light flicker and a shadow appear behind her. Her eyebrows knitted together as she slowly turned around. Her face twisted to agony. She tried to run, but he grabbed her, revealing an athame under her neck. Her breaths came in short. Several demons shimmered in before her, until Xyler shimmered in front of her. She tried to fight back, but the athame cut closer to her neck. She stopped struggling as Xyler took her hand and yanked the ring right off her finger.

"Please," she said in a stifled voice. Xyler smiled. He still held the ring in his palm and leaned in closer.

"You're a really obedient witch," he said, smiling. "Killing you should be easy."

Her breathing came faster as tears fell from her eyes.

* * *

Max ran up the steps, followed by a frantic Dora, Phoebe, and Coop. Max pointed to the door.

"This is it," he said. Coop pushed everyone aside and pushed the door open. He saw Prue on one side of the room, surrounded by demons.

"Prue!" Phoebe yelled, spotting her daughter. The demons turned towards her. Coop stopped her. He nodded his head towards the athame. Phoebe stopped in fear of losing her daughter. Dora counted the demons. They outnumbered them.

"Max, get out of here now," she quietly said. "There are more of them than us, and you have no way of protecting yourself."

"I'm staying here," he said firmly. Dora angrily glared at him.

She swiftly took her hand out of her pocket and placed her hand on his shoulder, using her teleportation power to transfer him back to the car. Before he had a chance to object, he was gone. He appeared in the dark car. He groaned and was about to run back up when felt something in his jacket pocket. He reached in and found a cell phone. His eyebrows knit together and he opened it.

"_Welcome Dora_," it read. He thought for a moment and quickly dialed Prue's other sister.

The demons slowly stepped closer to them. Phoebe stayed glued by Coop. Dora glanced at Prue, whose eyes were full of fear. She looked at the demon in front of her. His hand held a silver ring. Dora breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the jingling of orbs. She thought for the best way to start the attack. Two demons were closing in on Phoebe and Coop, but they were well protected. At any moment, they could teleport out of there. A demon was closing in on Dora. She couldn't think of any way to attack the demon without threatening Prue's life. She did the only thing that popped in her mind.

"Now!" she yelled. Xyler turned around, shocked by the loud outburst. Blind orbs filled the room. Chris and Wyatt appeared side by side, throwing numerous potions at the demons surrounding the room. Phoebe and Coop covered their heads as the demons exploded. Prue pushed her elbow back as hard as she could. The demon behind her only flinched but long enough for her to escape. His grip had loosened and she ran under the demon's grip, trying to reach for Dora. Xyler turned to her quickly and grabbed her. She screamed.

"No!" Phoebe yelled, running towards her. The demon had regained himself and threw a fireball towards Phoebe.

"Fireball!" Wyatt yelled, telekinetically orbing it back towards him. He exploded in flames. Xyler shimmered the athame into his hand and directed it toward Prue.

"One more movement and I swear you will see your daughter torn to pieces," he said. Phoebe stopped, pain ripped across her face. They were in the same place they had been only minutes earlier. Xyler took charge of his control and started moving to the opposite side of the room, away from them. White orbs appeared behind him, enveloping the outline of Helen's body. She quietly appeared with a red potion. She noticed the stricken faces of Dora and Phoebe. The athame sparkled. Helen threw the potion at his feet. He screamed, his feet shaking. The athame dropped from his hand, and Prue fell to the ground. Phoebe and Coop ran to her, picking her up. Chris orbed the athame to his hands. Helen started chanting the spell. Wyatt revealed a slip of paper and started chanting along with her. Xyler fell to his knees, his feet turning a red shade. The ring slipped out of his hand unnoticeably, rolling into a hidden corner of the room. It spun behind a cloth covered box. Helen and Wyatt finished chanting. A bright red light exploded in front of them. Helen flew backwards, pushed into the box, which jammed into the wall. The ring jammed behind the box, securing a locked spot. Wyatt and Chris ran to her. The door of the room burst open. Penelope ran in, followed by Max. Phoebe and Coop were embraced in a hug with Prue. Tears slipped down her eyes. Dora rushed to Penny. They walked over together and kneeled down. Dora placed a hand on Prue's shoulder.

"Mom, dad," she choked out. "I…I, am so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't know."

"It's okay, it's okay," he repeated. "It's all okay now."

Prue pulled away from their hugs and shook her head, tears soaking the ends of her hair. "I lost it. I lost my powers. They're gone."

Phoebe stared at her daughter's broken face and shook her head. "It's okay. It's okay."

Helen, Chris, and Wyatt walked over behind Dora and Penelope. They exchanged glances with one another.

"Are you sure it's gone?" Dora asked her younger sister. She nodded.

"I said the spell. And the powers went in the ring. The demon. He had the ring before he got vanquished. And I think when he got vanquished, the ring did too," Prue managed.

Phoebe looked at Coop. He glanced at Prue.

"Let's get you home," he lifted her up and carried her out of the door. Dora and Penelope stood up. Phoebe slowly made her way up. She looked at her two daughters and shook her head. Phoebe followed Coop out of the door. Wyatt looked at Max.

"I'll take you home," he said. Max nodded and Wyatt orbed them out of the building. Helen stood next to Chris and sighed.

"We better get out of here before anybody notices something," she said. Chris nodded and took her hand, blue orbs enveloping their bodies. Dora and Penelope stood side by side, numbly.

"This is really bad," Penelope finally said. "You really think it could be gone?"

Dora nodded. "As much as I don't want to admit it, I saw it in his hand. And it was gone when he was gone."

"Dora," Penelope whispered.

Dora nodded again. "I know."

Silence filled the room.

"I'm scared too."


	12. XII: Aftershock

Author's Note: I sincerely apologize for the HUGE break in between this published chapter and the last one. I was hoping to go out with a bang; a really long chapter, and I thought I would return quickly but AHH! School, school, school. It has been incredibly difficult to keep up with what I love to do on here. I still have so many studies and next year will be my hardest, but I am hoping to catch up as the summer approaches. Please bear with me, and keep checking the websites because sometimes I update to keep you informed. Thank you again so much and I hope you have not lost faith in me! I have a lot in store for you.

* * *

Ryder and Aidan stepped into a local café. They sat down quietly at a table facing the windows, wearing matching dark jeans with plain white shirts, trying to fit in with society. Ryder had his traditional black jacket on, not completely tossing his old ways away. They searched through the menus, ordering a lunch and thanking the waiter as he walked away. They faced each other, waiting for one another to speak up.

"So?" Aidan questioned.

"So what?" Ryder prompted.

Aidan gestured his hands around the café. "What do you think of this world?"

"Better than ours. I can manage to live up here for a while. It might be good for us. To get adjusted to this society, get jobs like normal people do, and then claim our right in the underworld," Ryder responded.

Aidan nodded. He rubbed the bridge of his noise, resting his hand on his hand.

"Ryder, there are…" he paused.

"There are what?" Ryder demanded.

Aidan looked up. "There are dangers here."

Ryder scoffed, resting his elbows on the table. "Of course there are."

"If we're careful, it won't be bad. But we can't do anything to provoke them."

"Them." Ryder thought for a moment. His eyes widened.

"No. No, you have to be kidding me. We entered into _their_ world? That's worse than where we came from! We should have just burned in hell."

Aidan shook his head. "They don't know who we are. We just have to enter their lives slowly and gain their trust."

Ryder breathed out through gritted teeth, shaking his head. He swept his hand through his hair in exhaustion. "That's your specialty."

"You and I both know that we're capable of doing that. We have human qualities as well as demonic. We're not 100 percent evil if you haven't forgotten. Both our mothers were…" he hesitated before finishing, and then spoke with force, "…good.

Ryder closed his eyes. "Yeah, but my mother wasn't a Charmed One."

Aidan let out a sharp breath, struck by the truth. "I've learned to put that behind me. I've proved to you and to myself that in the past. I've showed I'm evil and I've chosen my path. When will you stop throwing that in my face? I never had a choice in it. But I _did _have a choice in my future. And I chose my father's side, you understand?"

Ryder stared long at his lifelong friend. He nodded without speaking. Their lunches came and they ate in silence.

Ryder finally spoke. "Do you ever wonder..."

Aidan looked up, waiting for a continuation.

"What it'd be like if you chose your mother's side."

He looked around. "It would be like this. There would be peace, there would be hope; it'd be careless. There would be a chance for us to live a life."

Ryder shook his head. "Whatever that is." He paused. "You confuse me sometimes Aidan."

Aidan sighed. "I confuse myself as much as **you **confuse yourself. That's why we're such good friends."

Ryder laughed as Aidan grinned. He slapped his shoulder from across the table.

* * *

Dora sat across the dinner table from Prue, who was seated next to Penny. Phoebe and Coop were both seated on both sides of the table. They remained silent as Phoebe talked.

"Just because your powers are gone, Prue, I don't want you to feel like it's your fault. Things happen and of course, I'm disappointed they're gone, but maybe destiny was planning it this way."

Prue nodded. It had been several weeks since her powers were lost. They had only just sat down as a family to talk about what would happen. Coop had taken Prue out of school temporarily, maybe even permanently, so they could sort things out. He claimed she was being homeschooled for that time being, which wasn't a complete lie, as Phoebe helped her with her studies. The day Prue had lost her powers, Wyatt took Max home and she hadn't heard a word from him since. Dora claimed she talked to him and he promised not to tell anyone what he found out. Prue was afraid to call or confront him and just stayed safely in her house. She thought all day. She felt almost at peace. No voices telling her what to do and her judgment seemed clear. Unlike before, she could finally think to herself. She tried levitating once or getting a premonition, but nothing happened. A panicked weep and a sigh of relief escaped her at once. It confused her. She tuned back to her mom, who just finished talking.

"What are you feeling honey?" her dad asked her. Prue shrugged.

"Mostly confusion," she honestly said. It was the first time she felt like she was telling them the truth. And actually meaning it. Phoebe looked apprehensively at her daughter. Phoebe shot a look at her two eldest daughters, and Penny reassuringly rubbed Prue's shoulder, before leaving the table with Dora. The two sisters rushed off to leave them alone. Prue sat uncomfortably in the silence, shifting her feet. Phoebe's eyes stayed locked at a spot on the table, obviously still thinking. Phoebe finally spoke up again, sighing as she spoke.

"You know, honestly, I still don't know what's going to happen. I want to be truthful with you and the fact is that…" she hesitated.

"I'm scared out of my wits for you. Your powers made you who you are, at least, that's what I thought when I first got them. And I just assumed that because you were born with them, it automatically made you who you are. Prue." She stopped for a moment, looking at her daughter's scared eyes. Phoebe's face softened.

"Even though I never thought that my own daughter wouldn't want her powers, I will _never _stop loving you."

Prue nodded. "I'm not trying to deny who I am. Because I understand that this is us. This is what the family does and what we've done for the past couple of generations. But I'm not the only one who can keep the powers of the line going. I'm just the first one who wants to live without them."

Phoebe sighed. "Things were so much simpler when I told you what to do."

Coop smiled. Prue let out a laugh.

Penny and Dora were sprawled over the comfortable couches in their familiar living room. Markings of their childhood hung in the air, like the stain on the carpet, hidden by a plant or the marks on the wall measuring their height changes.

"So how are things with Brett going?" Penny asked.

"Well, they're not," she answered.

"Ehh, I don't know. He said I had to figure things out and that this was all so 'simple'", she said, putting air quotes over 'simple'.

"Honestly, I don't know what to say. I feel like it was just an impulsive thing. You know?"

Penny nodded.

"I feel horrible saying this, but thinking back. On everything that happened with Prue, it really got me thinking about who _I_ am, as a person, not as a witch. And I…" she hesitated. Penny turned to her, waiting for a continuation. "…I think the only reason I felt those things with Brett was because, just like Prue, I'm just sick of a lot of this witch stuff. And I want to do something for _myself_, you know? I felt like kissing him was going against the rules and I was doing what I wanted for once, but I don't think I like him. I think I just like the idea of liking someone. I sound so messed up right now."

Penny smiled. "I know what you mean. From what you told me though, it seems like Brett actually likes you."

Dora sighed. "I thought I liked him too, and now I feel just awful, as if I played him or something. He's a sweet person, he doesn't deserve it. Especially everything that happened with his dad."

"You need to talk to him, get things straightened out. I think that's what we all need," Penny stated, in her comforting voice. She slipped one hand her sister, giving her a half hug.


	13. XIII: New Charge

Hi guys!!! Been a very long time, but I still haven't forgotten about this, of course!! It's kind of the anniversary of the publication of this story on fanfiction, as well as my birthday so Happy Birthday to Legacy and happy birthday to me! Hahah, thanks for reading. Take care.

* * *

**November 29**

Junior groaned as his dreamless night was shattered by the cries of help. It echoed through his mind, just as it usually did when a charge was in trouble. He quickly checked the time.

4:23 A.M., it flashed.

He closed his eyes for a moment and was ready to orb when he heard a somewhat echo drift above him.

I got this one, a ghostly whisper rang. Junior curiously looked above him.

"Wyatt?" He saw dim blue orbs fading away above him. He gratefully sat down, waiting several minutes until Wyatt orbed into his room. He flicked on the lights.

"Thanks man," Junior genuinely said. Wyatt nodded.

"No problem, I know you have a lot on your mind."

Junior sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. He waited a couple of minutes before he spoke.

"I talked to her. She's nothing like Grace. The only thing they share is their looks, and that's barely even there," he paused for a moment. "It just completely caught me off guard."

Wyatt nodded again, leaning against the wall and cross his legs.

"It's the guilt that kills me. Sometimes I think if she never died, what would have happened between us? Would we have gotten married? Would we even still be together? I was just a kid; I was only 17. It was my fault she died."

Wyatt shook his head. "I know the last thing you want to hear from me is a lecture about how it wasn't your fault, but that's what you're gonna get. If she didn't die from the werewolf, she would have died somehow else. And if that happened, would you still blame yourself? It was her fate, and yes, it was unfortunate. But it happened and we can't escape that. Your sister has to understand that too. You guys can't blame yourself for the death of other people. You have to let go sometimes."

Junior leaned back and plopped himself on his bed, facing the ceiling.

"How do you know so much?"

"I've been a Whitelighter since I was 19, and I've been using my powers since inside the womb…"

Junior smirked and threw his pillow at him. "Show off." He bounced off the bed and started to get ready for the day.

Wyatt followed him out of his room to the kitchen. "I got news."

Junior reached out some food from the fridge and sat down, offering Wyatt some.

He spoke as he ate. "Elders are giving most of our charges to other Whitelighters now."

Junior stared at him, obnoxiously chewing.

"What's the catch?" he asked, with food still in his mouth.

"Well, you're off the hook, but they're assigning me one charge. Apparently a tough one. They've sent numerous Whitelighters for her, but she just shoots them down."

Still chewing food, Junior pointed at him and said. "Ha."

* * *

Penny walked through the door of her house.

"Hello?" she called out. She set her stuff down and took off her coat. She heard faint laughter coming from the living room. She followed the sound and saw her parents, along with her two sisters smiling. They were flipping through boxes of old pictures.

"Hey guys."

Phoebe turned around. "Hey sweetie, come look at this picture of you."

Penny took a seat next to her mom and smiled at the picture of her. She was wearing a yellow polka dotted dress, with a sunflower in her hair and a lollipop in her mouth.

"I always loved sunflowers," she warmly said. She saw her two sisters looking through old photo albums on the floor. She got off the couch and joined them, reaching into the box for her own album to look through. She opened up an old one, showing Phoebe with her siblings. Penny lifted her leg to cross when a photo strip fell out. She picked it up, recognizing her mom, twenty-five years younger. There were four pictures, as if vertically stacked on top of each other, like one of those pictures taken in a photo booth. She was embracing another man, who she recognized as the guy from the many other pictures Phoebe had kept.

Phoebe noticed Penny staring at the picture. "Which picture is that, Penny?"

She turned it around. Phoebe's smiled faded. Coop turned towards Phoebe.

"Cole," she whispered. She looked down, remembering her tragic love.

Penny immediately lowered it down, feeling guilt. She suddenly felt a slight electric tingle radiating from her hand. Her eyes drifted off and she felt the familiar sensation take her. She closed her eyes and saw a time tunnel run through her mind, until it appeared at a destination. Darkness. Silence filled the air. Echoes of screams suddenly rang out. Two dark figures appeared in front view. Nothing about them was identifiable until the bright, gleaming shine of a fireball shot straight towards her, knocking her out of the vision. Penny gasped for air, opening her eyes. Color regained itself, and the faces of her concerned family came into view.

"Penny? Are you okay?" Coop questioned. She looked at him and closed her mouth, nodding.

"What did you see?" Dora asked. Phoebe came rushing into the room with a glass of water, which Penny drank as Coop helped her onto the couch.

"It was, these two guys, or girls. I couldn't even tell, they were just black and I don't know. I can't even explain it…it was so, vague. All I know is that the vision ended with them throwing a fireball," she said in a rush.

Dora looked at her, concerned. She then turned to her mom.

"We can't exactly look for anybody fitting that description, can we?"

Phoebe shook her head. "All I can say is that you girls should stay alert and cautious of any people around you. If you feel like you're in danger or somebody fits that picture, contact each other or us right away."

"Maybe I should try to get another vision?" Penny suggested.

Phoebe shook her head. "No, it's not a good idea. Just let it be, Penelope. I don't think we should be bringing more trouble upon ourselves."

* * *

Wyatt orbed to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, which had developed into the usual meeting place for Whitelighters and Elders to interact. No Elder had orbed down yet so he took the time to roam around and enjoy the San Francisco weather. He closed his eyes, thinking. Jingles interrupted his train of thought and he turned around to face the familiar Elder Zaareh.

"Hello Wyatt," she greeted. He nodded in return. She held a beige file in her hand and handed it to him.

"We thought we would make it easier and more up-to-date for you by giving you all her information before you tried contacting her. To try to make a different approach than the previous Whitelighters."

Wyatt took the file and held it in his hands. Zaareh continued talking as she paced around the bridge.

"Something you should know about her. Elaine is very hard-headed. She has denied the previous Whitelighters we've tried to give her."

"Any reason for that?"

Zaareh avoided the question, as if she had not heard it.

"We need her. Her powers have been dormant for years and she has the potential to be a powerful asset to upcoming battles."

Wyatt's eyes flickered up. "Any particular battles I should be aware of?"

She shook her head. "Not yet."

Wyatt grunted, knowing she was withholding information.

"We hope you can convince her. It will not be a fast process."

Wyatt nodded.

"Good luck," and with that, blue orbs blinded his eye sight. He brought the folder up to his eye level and orbed to his cousin's apartment.

Junior was crouched comfortably on the couch, eating a bowl of cereal and watching television. He looked up as Wyatt orbed himself to the couch to his left.

"Hey, what's up?"

Wyatt sighed and tossed the folder onto the coffee table in front of them. Junior raised his eyebrows and glanced at it. He set his bowl on the table.

"What is it?" he warily asked.

"Elaine Mikelle's file," Wyatt responded, propping his head on his right hand resting on the armrest.

Junior picked up the folder and examined the outside of it. "A file, seriously? These Elders are getting really high tech here, watch out!" He started laughing and tossed it at Wyatt. He caught it and leaned forward.

"It's not funny, man. Why do you think they got rid of all my charges except her?"

His lips moved downward and he shrugged his shoulders. "She's a bad charge?"

"Zaareh said she's hard headed."

Junior patted him on the shoulder as he got up, taking the bowl to the kitchen counter. "Another stubborn one, just what you need."

Wyatt followed him and sat down at one of the counter chairs. Junior leaned his arms over the counter across from him.

"Have you opened it yet?"

Wyatt shook his head.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?" Junior snatched it from him and opened to the first page.

"Hey, she's cute. That's a bright side."

Wyatt annoyingly flipped the folder around. With dark honey chestnut hair, deep brown eyes, and a warm smile, she stared back at him. He skimmed over the basics, and flipped through the pages to discover she had graduated from Columbia University in three years with a degree in journalism. She currently worked at The Bay Mirror.

"She works at The Bay Mirror," Wyatt murmured.

"Aunt Phoebe's Bay Mirror? You think she knows her?"

Wyatt's head snapped forward. "I gotta go." He orbed away to his Aunt's home. Junior sighed.

Wyatt reappeared in the hallway of his Aunt's home. He made his way to the noises in the kitchen and saw his Uncle Coop.

"Hey Coop," he greeted. Coop looked up and smiled.

"Hey buddy, what's going on?"

Wyatt half smiled in return. "I'm looking for Aunt Phoebe, have you seen her?"

"Right here," a voice rang out behind him. Phoebe strolled in with her glasses on and her laptop.

"What's up honey?" She sat down and motioned for him to sit.

"I have a question," he started, as he sat down. He opened up the file and pointed to the girl. "Do you know her?"

Phoebe knitted her eyebrows together and looked at the picture.

"She looks a little younger here, but yes. This is Lainey. She interned for a couple of months at the Mirror and she works there doing stories on anything that's new," she stopped and examined the folder. "Wait, what is this?"

Wyatt shook his head in disbelief. "My new charge. It's just like the Elders to give me someone that you knew"

"I don't know," she murmured. "I had no idea she was at all supernaturally linked."

Wyatt nodded. "Thanks for the info Aunt Pheebs." He stood up and waved good-bye before he orbed out. Coop replaced Wyatt's seat across from his wife. He slipped his hands around hers and held them. Phoebe sighed.

"Thinking about Prue?"

She nodded meekly. "I just don't know what we're going to do."

"The school called. They want to know if she'll be coming back for this upcoming semester."

"What do you think?"

Coop pursed his lips together and shook his head. "She can't keep staying at home. I know you're teaching her, but she has to face life and get back to school."

Phoebe nodded and sat in silence.

"Do you really think they're gone?" she spoke up. He bit his lip and squeezed her hands.

"I don't know, but they're not in her anymore. And I don't know if you realize it, but she's never been happier."

Phoebe smiled a little. "It's strange, isn't it? For all these years I've been charmed, I've learned to accept that despite the battles and attacks, I love it. It makes me who I am, and we've passed it down to our children. It's become such a regular part of life that it's weird to think of having a kid who doesn't have it anymore."

"I think it was destiny. That demon didn't just target her out of nowhere. Something deep inside of her was doubting this, and if there was ever that doubt to begin with…"

"Then there was something wrong," she finished. "I just love her, and I want what's best for her."

"And we start with getting her back to school to start living that so-called "normal" life," he smiled and brought his hands up, lifting her off her feet. He swiftly wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, hugging her tightly. The sounds of heels against hardwood floor entered the kitchen. They were greeted by Penny.

"Hey guys," she was pulled into their embrace. She laughed and finally pulled away.

"Sappy times at the Halliwell Clan's," she smiled and reached into the fridge for cold water.

"If you're staying for dinner, we're having shellfish and crab cakes," Coop mentioned.

Penny wrinkled her nose. "Ew, what?"

"We wanted a seafood style dinner tonight," Coop responded.

Penny shuddered. "Uh, no thanks. That sounds very unappealing."

"Your bluntness is well noted," Phoebe shot back. "Sometimes I think you were born from the wrong sister."

Penny quickly turned around to face her mom. "I am not like Aunt Piper!"

Phoebe laughed. "I'm talking about Paige."

Penny thought for a moment before exiting the kitchen. "Ya, I can see that."

Phoebe and Coop laughed.

* * *


	14. XIV: Note

Hello!

I feel as though I have a birthday obligation to post something about Legacy.

SO as difficult as it may be to believe (especially for myself), it was July 3rd, 2007 when I first published Legacy on YouTube, and it was July 4, 2008 when I posted the story on FanFiction, and apparently, it was July 4th, 2009 when I last updated, and now I will continue this by updating today, July 4th, 2010! My birthday! As crazy as it is to believe. I am typing this as I'm enjoying the sound of the fireworks booming outside. I always did love those fireworks!

Unfortunately, I don't have any story to add on here, because it would take me a couple of minutes to even find the file with all I've written so far! I really do hope I can continue this (especially since it's summer), but things have been far too hectic. I'm working now so I'm occupied with that, and it's coming close to the end of my high school career, graduating in January!

Thank you for all your support, to everyone who's reviewed and kept coming back.

I do truly hope I can continue this, although my interests have definitely strayed. Thanks again lovelies!

Diana


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